Who Is the 'They'? The Boardroom Voice of Das Man

Transcript

SPEAKER_1: cowardice is outsourcing the self — letting the 'they' decide. Now I want to go deeper on who that 'they' actually is. SPEAKER_2: Right, and the key idea is that das Man isn't a crowd of identifiable people. Heidegger describes it as an impersonal 'they-self' — 'everyone is the other, and no one is himself.' Personal responsibility dissolves without anyone noticing. SPEAKER_1: So it's not external pressure from specific people. It's more like the water everyone swims in. SPEAKER_2: Exactly. Das Man operates through shared conventions and language — what counts as normal, obvious, acceptable. And here's what makes it so hard to spot: Heidegger insists it's not an exterior crowd. It's a way each person tends to exist. The conformist 'they' is also inside the self. SPEAKER_1: Think of how often someone says 'the market demands this' or 'leadership expects 10% growth.' Who exactly is 'leadership'? Who is 'the market'? SPEAKER_2: Organizational studies make exactly that point — anonymous 'they' language often masks a small number of powerful decision-makers. And moral disengagement research shows people justify harmful actions by saying 'the company decided' or 'this is industry practice.' The grammar does the ethical work. SPEAKER_1: So the language isn't just imprecise — it's redistributing blame before anything goes wrong. SPEAKER_2: That's it. Diffusion of responsibility research finds that when accountability spreads across many actors, unethical behavior becomes more likely because no one feels personally answerable. Business historians have documented how corporate scandals were enabled by cultures where individuals felt they were simply doing what was expected — not making accountable personal choices. SPEAKER_1: Can we get concrete? What does this look like in a governance setting — say, a board making a major strategic call? SPEAKER_2: Sure. Corporate governance studies show boards often rely on shared 'best practices' and prevailing market norms, which encourages herd behavior. Groupthink research adds that cohesive leadership groups suppress dissenting opinions and favor consensus — even when members privately doubt the decision. Formal independence on paper, silence in the room. SPEAKER_1: So the board member who privately thinks 'this is wrong' but stays quiet — that's das Man in action. Why is that the default rather than the exception? SPEAKER_2: Because das Man is structurally comfortable. Heidegger links it to inauthenticity — when Dasein follows 'what one does,' it avoids confronting anxiety and finitude. Fear of standing out is a key mechanism. Everyday talk, what Heidegger calls Gerede, flattens differences and discourages deeper questioning. The system rewards not rocking the boat. SPEAKER_1: And the cost of rocking it is real. Whistleblowing research shows employees who challenge unethical practices often face retaliation — which reinforces that exact culture. SPEAKER_2: Right. Now, leadership integrity scholarship frames the deeper issue as an identity question: the tension between courage and cowardice hinges on whether a leader identifies as a responsible individual or as a replaceable part of an impersonal system. That's not a decision-making problem. That's a self-understanding problem. SPEAKER_1: So how does someone actually retrieve themselves from that? Heidegger's word is retrieval — pulling back from the falling into das Man. SPEAKER_2: Anxiety, in Heidegger's sense. Some scholars argue that encountering anxiety — the unsettling sense that familiar norms no longer provide solid guidance — can disrupt das Man's hold and open space for authentic choices. Moral courage research supports this: people act against unethical group norms more readily when they anchor decisions in personal identity and values, not impersonal expectations. SPEAKER_1: Worth noting — das Man isn't purely destructive. Heidegger acknowledges it provides shared meanings that make everyday cooperation possible. A consultant can't just blow it up. SPEAKER_2: Exactly right. The goal isn't to eliminate shared norms — it's to stop hiding behind them. Ethical leadership scholarship shows that leaders who role-model openness to criticism can counteract the silencing effect of anonymous 'they' pressures. A useful diagnostic move for anyone working with organizations is simply to ask — who, specifically, is the 'they' in this sentence?