In Someone Else Shoes

Asking people to work outside of their area of expertise can be a good thing if done fairly and for a good reason.

In a small organization you don’t always have the luxury of specialization. The customer and the purchase order rule and sometimes employees have to get outside their comfort zones to keep the ship sailing. As long as this is done fairly (i.e. the CEO mans the phones and takes out the trash as well), then it is a good thing.

I am more sympathetic to employees in large organizations but still don’t think they could be sacrificed in the name of company morale. All bureaucracies suffer lack of communication and understanding among different parts of the organization. Doing someone else’s job, even for a day, is immensely educational, especially if your own job is somewhat removed from the customer. All Disney employees have to walk the park in a suit one day a year. All information technology personnel should field customer support calls one day a year as well. Even having interdisciplinary working groups address problems, is good at breaking the “not my problem” attitude in so many corporations. Walking in someone else’s shoes is good as long as it’s for a good reason.