Another slap in the face?

April 29, 2022 ProgressionHR

Sometimes brilliant people do stupid things, what happens next?

Keep my wife’s name out of your **** mouth.”

Suddenly the joke wasn’t a joke. And no one was expecting what happened next. Least of all, Will Smith.

That slap and the controversy that followed was big news worldwide. Everyone had an opinion. But peel back the Hollywood and the headlines and there’s a question in there for anyone in HR. What do you do if someone so brilliant, does something so stupid?

Let’s break it down.

The moment

 A million and one questions followed the event. Do we ask him to leave? Do we give him the award? Do we take it away? What’s the right answer right here, right now?

Violence feels like a black and white situation. You slap someone, you get fired. Right? But knowingly throwing shade at someone with a medical condition is also serious misconduct. And there’s many shades of grey in every challenge.

The always-on advice is to step away from the fire. When emotions are heated, humans can’t think. That’s when we react. Cool down time is essential and some can do it faster than others. So before we jump in to help in the moment, it’s vital to step back and make sure everyone’s thinking clearly.

 

The humans

Let’s take a closer look at the players involved. One’s an award-winning, highly respected Hollywood actor. The other is an award-winning highly respected Hollywood comedian. This was out of character for both.

And character, or behavioural patterns matter. If someone quite brilliant unexpectedly does something stupid we don’t always need to dive for the nuclear codes. In this situation, the humans who were acting like children immediately turned into grown ups. They were genuine, acknowledged the wrong and apologised with humility. Problem solved, right? Or is it?

 

The court of public opinion

Here’s the biggest curveball – there weren’t just two people involved in this skirmish. Everyone was present for the slap. Whether on the stage at the Oscars or the boardroom in the office, when others pass judgement, the problem gets hard.

How do you balance fairness, corporate values, contractual obligations and the very loud voice of Janice from sales who thinks anyone who’s violent should immediately go to jail? We think the answer, as always, is to focus on the people.

How bad was it really? Pretty bad. Was it a pattern of behaviour or a strange emotional outburst? It was the latter. What could repercussions mean for the organisation and its culture? This is tricky. We can’t condone the action, but should we just cancel the culprit?

While none of us are likely to be thrust in the middle of a celebrity spat, these things happen in every organisation more often than we’d like. And the answers are never easy. But the secret is to cool it down, focus on the humans and make sure that any ‘justice’ is seen by all and felt as fair.

 

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