Reference #474: Organizational Culture and Leadership

The "niceties" of social life — manners and morals, politeness, and tact — are in fact essential rules for keeping a social society intact. An important concept in this understanding is "face": a self-image of who we are, along with a degree of self-esteem.

The underlying rule of the social order is that we should protect each other's face. We must uphold each other's claims because our self-esteem is based on it. Not upholding someone's claims — for example, by not laughing at their joke — results in a loss of face for both parties. The affected party is embarrassed, and the offending party is seen to have behaved rudely, destructively, and irresponsibly.

Schein. Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2017. (171)

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