Story 28: Senior
The story: They agreed to let the seniors speak first. Two minutes later she started talking and he stopped her. You are not the most experienced person here. The third person looked up: I thought senior meant age. Three people at one table, waiting for three different people to go first.
What it means for organisations: Senior can mean age, years in the company, level in the hierarchy, or the person who knows the most about the thing being discussed. Organisations use it constantly and rarely say which. Deference then goes to whoever holds the reading that happens to be shared by the loudest person in the room, and the norm looks like it is working right up to the meeting where two versions collide.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 28
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The meeting table
A meeting room with a round table, a hanging lamp, plants, and a bookshelf. Ally, Axel, and an older, balding colleague with glasses sit around the table. Ally gestures warmly as she sets the ground rules, and Axel nods along.
Ally: Let's have the seniors speak first.
Axel: Sounds reasonable.
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: Two minutes later
The same table. The older colleague has the floor. Ally looks puzzled and frowns. Axel gestures toward the older colleague, suddenly realizing the mix-up.
Ally: Why are you speaking first? You're not the most experienced person here.
Axel: Oh! I thought "senior" meant age, not experience…
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