Absolutely No Aggression

The story: The team agreed: no aggression at work. Everyone said absolutely. A week later she said something critical but didn't confront anyone directly. He called it passive aggression. She said she hadn't confronted anyone. He said saying yes and not acting on it is aggression too. They had agreed on the rule but never on what counted as breaking it.

What it means for organisations: Policies without definitions are just intentions. When a team agrees on a rule — about behaviour, communication, accountability — and doesn't discuss what violating it actually looks like, every person draws their own boundary. And everyone stays on the right side of the line they drew themselves.