From Outhouse to In-House – Challenges Blue Collar Managers Face – Pt. 3

by Bart Gragg

When The New Blue Collar Manager moves from the field to the office he encounters several psychological reactions, chief among them scarcity.

From wide open spaces, outside with the horizon in view, inside a large warehouse, open yards, hot and cold, freedom, ah yes, living the great outdoors life then Wham! As they are thrust into an ‘office’ the size of an airline toilet they have a sense of loss, something has been taken away from them. Reality hits like a rogue wave in the Bering Sea – cold, hard and fast. How is that for a reality check?

“Reality hits like a rogue wave in the Bering Sea – cold, hard and fast.”

What happens when the manager moves from the field and using an outhouse to the office and working in-house is that they lose freedom. Even if they actually don’t lose all of their freedom, their perception is that they lose most of it.

Lest you feel that freedom is over-rated, consider what Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, bestselling author of “Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion” says about scarcity and the loss of freedom.
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The idea of potential loss plays a large role in human decision making…there is a unique…source of power within the scarcity principle: As opportunities (freedoms) become less available, we lose freedom; and we hate to lose the freedoms we already have.

What is happening here quite literally is the person new to working inside feels a loss of freedom and it is a shock to their system. They will seek to find and hold that freedom again. The situation will cause the individual to stress, but they may be able to hide it well. Their manager can do a few things to help the situation out:

Talk to the person about what will happen and how they might feel about the loss of freedom. Recognize it ahead of time. Preferably before they are actually moved into the position.
Be aware of the sense of loss of freedom after they have moved into the new position. Stay in touch with them regularly, for this and many other reasons.
Try not to micro-manage which translates to them as a total lock-down of their freedom.

What other thoughts and ideas do you have about how to reduce the effect of ’scarcity’ when a person changes positions? Bart Gragg