A New Trick for Old Dogs

I never got the point of “ego walls”, where a person hangs up their diplomas and awards so that a visitor to an office is forced to look at another's greatness.

Granted, I once saw an ego wall in the Pentagon that covered two entire walls! However, the gentleman in question was a former officer, former Space Shuttle pilot, PhD, etc. I was both awed and - to be perfectly honest - quite intimidated.

But wait a minute- if we want to build inclusive, trauma-informed spaces where we can truly collaborate, then I suggest awe and intimidation are not the emotions we should evoke through our display of wall decor.

Until I thought through this post, I never deeply considered why I never put my diplomas, medals, certificates, and so forth on my walls. Perhaps I've had too many conversations in front of an ego wall.

So what I have in my “fishbowl” office right now is a glass wall facing the hallway - from which I’ve long since removed the blinds (that's the subject of another post). One wall for my standing desk and bookshelves, some windows (luxury!!), and the final one that has a whiteboard and just two ego momentos: a disarmed IED from Ar Ramadi to remind me of the good and bad times of The Hunt, and a photograph of my friend and teammate Harry R - who died over in the sandbox.

I've been out of work and on my back for several weeks now. And our secretary called me this morning:

“Mike, your plants look like they miss you a great deal. Mind if I water then?”

“Thank you!!!”

“Anything else I can do?”

“No, tha… oh, wait!!”

And it suddenly hit me: a new trick for old dogs.

See, our secretary is the heart and soul of the company. She is constantly finding community service opportunities for us, and I'm constantly encouraging people to support.

I now know I will never have an ego wall. In a split second I realized that I want the TEAM wall.

So I asked her to please give me all the photos she has of our team events: working at the soup kitchen, river cleanup, cookouts, night at the baseball game…. Anything.

I'm going to put away my IED and move Harry onto my desk. Then I am going to cover the entire wall with employees serving the community, serving each other, and having one hell of a good time.

When I return to the office, my ego wall will become the Team Wall. And I strongly encourage you to do the same.

Maybe it won't make it easier for people to come to me to have hard discussions. But if nothing else it will constantly remind me and everyone in that space of where our energy, focus, and best efforts lie: helping each other be our very best.