Recently I have heard people complaining about mess and untidiness in a group setting.  For example not cleaning up after themselves in the common kitchen area, cleaning out rotting food in the fridge, or dropping paper towels on the floor of the bathroom when the bin overflows.  The solution as far as these people see it is to whine and nag, and its effectiveness is approximately zero.

These “solutions” are quite natural, and by no means confined to this one experience.  At other places you will see signs like “stop stealing other people’s food” posted on the fridge, or many other kinds of nags.  Again, these are near completely ineffective!

As I see it, the root cause for this is that humans evolved in small close knit groups.  In these small groups, social pressures can be quite effective, as everyone feels part of the same tribe.  Once the tribe grows however, group cohesiveness declines.  This means that it’s easier to slink into the background, and anti-social behaviour (messy kitchen) can increase while the value of and pro-social incentives (nagging) declines.  For example, someone may see you leave the kitchen in a mess, but they are less likely to know who you are and you are less likely to care that they saw you because you don’t know them.

Ineffective managers don’t realize this, and try to use the techniques that worked on the small group and apply them to the larger group.  And they get very frustrated when those tactics don’t work anymore, and amplify the requests.

As I see it, the solution is quite simple.  If possible, arrange common areas into smaller groups, where pro-social tendencies will naturally help to control bad behaviour.  If that’s not possible, just deal with it and don’t get frustrated.  Throw away the rotting food, and hire someone to clean up after the slobs.  It’s just part of group dynamics, nothing personal or unique to any one group.