FIFO doesn't just stand for "Fly in Fly out"

A culture is made up of behaviours, beliefs, values and motivations of those in the group. In any culture, there are certain behaviours that are accepted, allowed, and encouraged. These behaviours are those that the collective have deemed fair and desirable to those in the group. The behaviours of one culture may appear to be unusual or even unacceptable to another culture but works for the group that they are a part of. When different cultures come together, this is when tolerance becomes more important.

While working in the resources industry, I was reliably informed that FIFO does not only stand for Fly in Fly out. ”Really?”, I enquired somewhat naively but genuinely interested in what else it could stand for. A veteran miner with a sly grin on his face said, "It also stands for Fit in or F$(# off." I have to admit that this response did leave me a little shocked, not the language itself as you do not decide to take a role on a mine site if you can’t handle a few expletives but more the overall insinuation of the statement. I am someone who highly values equity in the workplace and I actively work to ensure an inclusive environment.

I had wrongfully assumed that the statement “fit in or……please take a window seat” meant that they were only looking to include those with the same beliefs and orientations as themselves but observations, interactions and altercations over time would teac

h me that what I perceived as a harsh statement really was an indication craving connection with those that they worked with.

Looking back on the demographics of that mine site, it could have easily become a “boys club” of the middle-aged, white variety, but it was not. Upon reflection, I think the reason for this was that one of the values they held in their culture was tolerance, if you made an effort to talk (have a yarn) with other people on the site and found something in common that connected you to each other and that was enough to “fit in”. They were looking for a level of what they would call 'mateship' but what I call connection, which leads to trust and a feeling of belonging. It was recognised that diversity and connection were not mutually exclusive, and it was as if they actually loved the challenge of finding connection with

people of different backgrounds.

I have also seen this work in a detrimental way in a culture where tolerance is not valued as highly. A young professional of middle eastern background was brought into a team of Anglo-Saxon, middle-aged men, and after a short period, it was deemed that he was not performing. They wanted to start performance managing him. However, I had suspicions as to why he was not performing and suggested that we should give him a chance to improve in another team. I strategically chose a team who were diverse in ages, cultural backgrounds, tolerant and included a passionate experienced person who loved to mentor. The young man’s performance improved and was not seen to be an issue in the new team. When I had a conversation with him about why this was, he told me he felt heard and was in a team where people valued his contribution and were keen to learn about him as a person.

The value of tolerance in a culture will ensure you can build diversity and reap the benefits that diversity brings. Diversity is important according to a study by MIT because people with diverse ethnic backgrounds, generations, genders, races and religions (just to name a few) provide different viewpoints that allow for better problem solving and creativity. This is only beneficial if everyone feels free to express their views and feels that their contribution is valued, and therefore tolerance is so important.

So perhaps a more eloquent way of expressing the Fit in or F$ck off statement should be:

“Welcome to our team. We have a tolerant and close culture as we work and live together. The work we do is dangerous so we need to trust each other. We want to learn more about you, your beliefs, your likes and dislikes so we can connect on a social level. However, we also know that if we are unable to connect, our culture will suffer, and in that case, we will have no option but to ask you to leave as we value our team culture above all else.”

Not quite as catchy, but more accurate recipe for building an engaged team.

Performance more often boils down to a cultural challenge, rather than simply a technical one.