I’m a sucker for fun words. And I learned a new expression last week when my client mentioned that the department they were finding most challenging was like a koala park. I thought:
Will this be right up there with white wanting?
That is, where Aussie creatures capture the essence of workplace phenomena?
So evocative! They somehow convey both the feeling you have and the behaviour you see all at once. A novel and elegant way to express yourself and be understood. Even if, at first, you don’t know what they mean. Because, of course, you simply ask.
That’s what I did. I’d never heard the term before. It turns out that having a koala park at your workplace is about as inelegant as you can get.
What koala park means in the work context
Real koalas are adorable, at least from a distance. But the thing with koalas is that they’re an endangered species. That means, as my client said:
you can’t move ’em and you can’t shoot ’em.
You’re stuck with them!
The other thing with koalas is that they don’t have much energy. When they’re not eating the best leaves they can find, they spend their time sleeping in the branches. Apparently, for up to 18 hours a day!
That means that not only are you stuck with them, but they also don’t do anything.
In essence, then, what my client was saying is how frustrated and powerless they are when it comes to working with this department. And how the ‘koalas’ seem to get away with it.
Of course, they might have been doing many things my client couldn’t see or isn’t aware of. But I don’t think so. Because, in this case, my client is telling them that they have to clean up the park because the rules have now changed. The koalas, of course, don’t want to.
The koalas want to be left alone
I get the koalas. I mean, who wants that kind of change? It’s like telling a teenager they now have to keep their room tidy because, as the parent, you just decided. Your house, your rules. You know that won’t happen without some kind of protest.
The thing is, these koalas should’ve cleaned up their park a long time ago. The rules aren’t so new. What’s new is more complaints that they give to my client to sort out. They’d rather deal with complaints than fix the problem. It’s easier.
It seems the biggest bosses prefer the status quo too. Possibly because cleaning up will cost money. A lot of it. It’s been cushy in the koala park.
Plus, the biggest bosses are long standing mates with the koalas. Everyone’s been around for a long time. So, the koalas consider themselves immune when pesky newer people come around, like my client.
The question for my client is, what can you do when you don’t control the koala park, you can only visit?
Is it worth taking the koalas on?
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about a koala park scenario. The most common solution I hear about is ‘the old work around’. It’s where you find a way to get what you need, even if it’s a long way around.
It’s inconvenient, and it may not be right. But it’s the path of least resistance. You too have a job to do. So, like most everyone else, in the end you basically avoid the problem and let the koala park be.
Not ideal. But you have to know when it’s your problem to solve and when it’s not. In other words, you pick your battles.
It’s not so easy for my current client. There is no possible work around here. They have to go through the koala park.
Make your own rules
They’ve tried asking nicely. They’ve tried by pointing out the consequences of not cleaning up. They’ve tried speaking to individual koalas and to the colony. They’ve tried talking to the biggest bosses too. But nothing is landing.
The organisation isn’t ready. They don’t want to know. And they certainly don’t want to clean up their mess.
Sometimes, people need to hear things a number of times, from a number of sources, to get things moving.
Tried that too. My client isn’t alone. Their colleague also raised cleaning up the park. It fell on deaf ears. It seems it hasn’t been enough, at least not yet.
Wisely, in the meantime, my client is considering their options. There are only so many times and ways you can say the same thing. And some things are simply more important:
- Like your integrity. They refuse to collude.
- And your wellbeing. They refuse to burn out. These kinds of scenarios can leave you wondering if something is wrong with you. That you don’t have what it takes. It’s exhausting.
Even though this client knows it’s not them – that it’s the koala park and the overall lack of appetite for change – it still isn’t easy. But they do have a choice. And thankfully, they’re making their own rules.
How about you? Have you ever had a koala park situation?
Photo by: dragh
