Unlocking Monica's Closet: A Guide for Nonprofit Transparency
Happy Friday!
Did you know that another option for the title of the show, “Friends” was “Insomnia Café”?
Did you know that Monica was known for being super neat and organized? But she had a locked closet, off-limits to everyone, filled top-to-bottom with junk?
Chandler’s curiosity eventually got the best of him, and he took the hinges off the door to see what was in there.
Does your organization have a “Monica’s Closet”? Probably yes. Every organization wants to make a certain impression, and is selective about what it reveals to its external audiences and stakeholders. There’s a healthy version of this at the personal and organizational level.
Problems arise when an organization’s cultural norms celebrate putting things into the closet, and punish taking things out.
Over time, this can greatly diminish:
Learning: When we don’t look honestly at what led to the junk, we’re destined to generate more junk.
Accountability: The leaders who should take responsibility for the junk hold the keys to all the closets. They also establish the spoken and unspoken rules about which ones get opened (and when, and how, and by whom).
Morale: When the people who most want to solve the organization’s problems are not allowed to talk about them, morale takes a hit.
Impact and Revenue: As learning, accountability, and morale diminish, performance and trust diminishes. Performance and trust are the foundations of impact and revenue.
This can happen to any organization (not just THAT one over there).
Counterintuitively, the trick to preventing it has nothing to do with a hyper-focus on organizational culture. Pressure to establish and sustain a perfect culture can create a kind of toxic positivity, where no one feels free to acknowledge flaws. So they put anything that doesn’t fit that image into Monica’s Closet.
Consider the rituals and routines your team has in place for fostering candor, revealing unspoken rules, and occasionally (maybe even joyfully) unlocking Monica's closet to sort through the junk together.
Have a great weekend!
Drew
PS: Thanks to my friend Brian for pointing me towards the “Monica’s Closet” episode, and relating that to organizations. Also, thanks to all of you who have given me feedback during this launch phase of Glass Box Systems. I’m still in learning and building mode, and have continued to adapt to the felt needs I’m hearing from you. Thank you! Keep the feedback and input coming!
