Think about an improv theater performance in which the roles and motivations of the characters are poorly defined. That would most likely be a pretty confusing, unproductive performance. But wow, does this happen a lot in business! There are all sorts of reasons why it happens — mergers, acquisitions, regime changes, re-orgs, layoffs and transfers, to name a few. It does not change the fact that it adversely affects performance. Just as in improv theater, our interdependent differences are what make business performances productive.
When the differences in our roles are muddled, when there’s a lot of wiggle room and hazy definition in our responsibilities, when people can hide behind the “We’re all a team here” bromide, we invite the playing of unproductive games like ‘Buffing and Turfing’. The game of ‘Buffing and Turfing’ first came to my attention when I read the classic hospital-set novel, House of God by Samuel Shem. I have seen it played thousands of times since. I have played it. You have, too. The objective in this game (for one of the players; not the other) is usually to avoid taking responsibility for a bad situation, or to avoid having to deal with a problem. ‘It is played by ‘Buffing’ a situation with nominal or cosmetic support, then ‘Turfing’ it by making it someone else’s problem, shooting it into someone else’s area of organizational responsibility. This game also goes by the name of ‘Not My Problem’, and ‘We’re Sending This Ship to Tel Aviv’.
Here’s what happens when a guy in IT ‘Buffs and Turfs’ a more junior player. A second video illustrates the true meaning of the communication that gets obscured by the unproductive game.
Tags: Buffing and Turfing, Responsibility, Unproductive Games