Alfred Tora

It’s hard not to be aware of the growing pains that the Fiji Rugby Union — the national governing body of Fiji’s most revered pastime — has felt the past few months. Although the union has apparently been mismanaged for years and is purporting to be in the midst of a clean up campaign, the mess seems to be growing bigger and bigger with every passing week.

This has led to much speculation that things haven’t changed at all.

*Cue The Who’s “Won’t Be Fooled Again”*

The recent revelations by the team leaders of Fijiana, the Fiji rugby women’s team, of pay discrepancies and broken promises and the mixed responses from Rugby House indicate deeper issues than the more obvious topics highlighted by the mainstream media. I believe that many of the problems that the Fiji Rugby Union face stem from these obscure issues. I also believe that what unfolded within the “Fiji Rugby vs. Fijiana” saga is just a manifestation of a greater social phenomenon that plagues many of our Pasifika organizations.

So what really is the problem? What are some steps in the right direction that can be taken by the enlisted Board of Trustees and leaders of any organization facing the same problem? How can leaders build proactive organizations when it comes to these issues? These are the questions that we will dive into in this article.

The (Un)known problem

Everybody has an opinion about what needs to be done to resolve the FRU fiasco. There’s also a plethora of opinions to why we ended up in this situation in the first place. We blame the previous administration. There’s a lack of transparency. We know someone has been using the union as a personal bank account. We see that there is an obvious misogynistic element. Communication, both internally and externally is kaput. The medical term for what we have here, I believe, is Symptomatic Treatment. We are treating for the symptoms that we’re coming across instead of diagnosing the underlying cause of it all.

I get it! It’s much easier to treat for the obvious issues. Corrupt previous admin? Complete board overhaul and start an investigation. Misogyny? Publicly declare against it. Communication breakdown? Call in a comms specialist.

It distracts the public and relieves the apparent pressure that the organization is under. But it does nothing to fix the real issue. The real-world application of the metaphor “kicking the can down the road”. We’re putting bandaid solutions on a situation that’s akin to massive internal bleeding and if left untreated, could lead to the death of the organization.

These discrepancies, situations, headlines, or whatever you want to call them, are symptoms of a lack of organizational culture and values. That is what is wrong. Plain and simple. This lack of organizational culture and values is what everyone is touching on without fully hitting it on the head.

The reason it’s so hard to pinpoint? For one, it is hard to determine what constitutes and contributes to the fabric of the culture. Simply put, what practices and behaviors actually become the way of doing things? What values and norms are promoted within the organization? What behaviors are expected and what are forbidden? What are the relationships between different individuals? How are communication channels set up?

All these aspects are what constitutes “culture”. In any organization, whether it be an establishment such as the Fiji Rugby Union or a startup that is just taking its first steps, the need to understand what culture it wants to create and maintain should be a priority. A strategic priority. Because culture is everything! It is what influences the work environment that the employees dwell in. When the public hears the name of the organization, its culture is what comes to mind first. When other organizations seek to form partnerships and collaboration, culture determines whether it will be a good fit.

Culture is such an integral part of any organization. So why isn’t more emphasis put on this particular aspect of business? I would venture that this is because they aren’t informed as to its importance and its influence on the work environment. Again this is because it’s hard to quantify what culture offers the organization. The next question then becomes, “when it (culture) is a priority, why does culture breakdown?” — the FRU fiasco being the prime example right now. The simplest answer I can give? It’s because the relationship between the culture and the organization doesn’t fit. And this right here is the problem that I believe many pasifika and pasifika-led organizations are facing at this time. The (un)known problem.

Context is Everything

What do I mean when I say the culture-to-organization fit isn’t right? Context is everything. This is a phrase that is drilled into your brain when you venture into the sciences. Trying to solve for a problem in the wrong context is foolish, to say the least. That’s why medical doctors need accurate patient history and why social scientists need to study external and internal societal factors before either give anything that resembles a confident answer.

In this case, when I say “context is everything” I mean it in all sense of the phrase. When it comes to creating organizational culture, it seems that “context is everything” gets lost in translation until it means “context is nothing”. Much of the research done and recommendations given in the field of business are extracted from studies done in Western countries and organizations. Yet the rest of the world, Pasifika included, continue to apply these business models and systems in our businesses. And we wonder when these recommendations don’t work. It’s because the fit isn’t there.

If, like the FRU, the organization in question is based in the Pacific and consists mainly of pasifika individuals with values and motivations different from that of the Western world, then why do we continue to implement it? If the Pasifika is the context — the environment that the organization is operating in, the people that work in that system, and the society that sets our values —then doesn’t that mean that it should be something we consider when creating organizational culture?

Why do we feel the need to copy organizational cultures that clearly don’t represent our core values and beliefs? Is it because we think that if it works there, it’ll work here? Different context, different result.

First Step Forward

I hope to see more of our Pasifika business leaders implement cultural values into the culture of their organizations — starting with the FRU. Talanoa, Veiwekani, Veidolei, Veiqaravi, to name a few, are iTaukei values that should be effectuated into organizations in Fiji. Our Pasifika neighbors should also incorporate their indigenous and cultural values into their systems as well.

The decision to have the first Rugby World Cup extended team camp on the island of Taveuni is a great example of “going back to the roots”, literally. With the team in a secluded area, the reintroduction of indigenous cultural values into the team culture is inevitable. The team is able to experience what working as a village is like and how individual efforts should be made towards the good of the group. What a great reminder it must be, to the boys, about the passion and support the people of Fiji willingly give. A reawakening of what it is to play, not for money, but for the glory of the island nation they represent. Those are the lessons I’m sure the players and management got from their time on Taveuni. Now I hope that can translate back to the administrators in Rugby House.

As I’ve said before, leaders are responsible for creating culture. Taking a page out of the Flying Fijians rugby team, here are some steps you can take to mold the culture you want for your organization or team. Hopefully with cultural values and indigenous ideals included!

1. Understand the values: Before you can be an advocate for something, you must understand it first. Find out what you want in a culture. Research it and understand the benefits and shortfalls of the values you want to expound on!
2. Create a safe space: Like how the rugby team went to a secluded destination to create team culture, you too should locate or create a space that would allow for team bonding and culture-building to take place.
3. Experiences and stories: Emphasize values and lessons with experiences and stories. Allow members the opportunity to associate the lessons you teach with stories that you’ve told and experiences they’ve had. The Flying Fijians emphasized cultural values via the interactions with the local villagers.
4. Over-communicate: When trying to introduce something new, be it values or lessons, get on the message as much as possible. Hit that button as much as you can!
5. Don’t be a hypocrite: Practice what you preach! Nothing destroys culture as quickly as a leader that does the opposite. All eyes will be on you and rightfully so! You are the biggest advocate and ambassador of the culture you want. I wouldn’t follow a leader who would never get into the trenches with me.

These are simple first steps for any leader that wants to make cultural changes. It is by no means exhaustive and as I’ve said before, context is everything.

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If our cultural and indigenous values were implemented AND encouraged in organizational cultures, a lot of the issues we talked about today would not exist. For too long we’ve put stock on trying to recreate business systems that clearly don’t fit with our core beliefs. There are far too many instances of individualism and for-personal-profit behavior in our businesses and that stems from company cultures that promote that sort of behavior. When will we learn?