Is Silence Killing Your Company Summary

826 Words2 Pages

To: Dr. Steve Flaherty From: Nathan Goodrich Date: 7/5/2017 Subject: Reading Response for “Is Silence Killing Your Company” Introductory Paragraph One of the core values of American culture is the notion of free speech. Americans are able to say whatever we want without fear of retribution from the government, but free speech does not protect workers from reprisal in the work place. According to the authors, silence within an organization comes at a high price to both the organization and the individuals working within the organization. While a lack of open expression may be comforting to both employees and management at times, creativity and productivity are often sacrificed when corporate culture rewards falling in line as opposed to freedom of expression. Summary of Major Points Point 1: The authors discuss the tendency of employees remaining silent in order to keep from damaging their value as opposed to speaking up to increase their value. The article uses the example of …show more content…

To emphasize this point, the author discusses the ramifications of the meeting discussed in Point 1. Linda becomes silent when interacting with Robert, but she beings to tell others within the organization of the poor treatment she received. This caused damage to both Robert and the organization. “Every time we keep silent about our differences, we swell with negative emotions like anxiety, anger and resentment. Of course, we can go on for a long time pretending to ourselves and others that nothing is wrong. But as long as the conflict is not resolved, our repressed feelings remain potent and color the way we relate to other people. We begin to feel a sense of disconnection in our relationships, which in turn causes is to become increasingly self-protective” (Perlow & Williams,

Open Document