Your company holds an annual charity event that all employees enjoy. Senior management wants to host a dunk tank for managers. You've all been conscripted to provide amusement for your employees by sitting on the ledge and getting dumped into the drink.
The problem is the tanks are small; and, of course, they're full of water. Some of your fellow managers have very large stature. Then there's Seline, who has spent a great deal of time and money on a difficult-to-maintain hairstyle; not to mention the humiliation some of the female managers would face while standing around in wet clothes.
Discussion
The manager needs to be a Change Agent in this situation. Someone must approach the senior managers and say that people are uncomfortable.
It's possible to have this difficult conversation. Make clear that it is unfair to assume people would want to do this. Even if they ask for volunteers, it's very common for volunteering to become mandatory. People often get enormous pressure to volunteer, or be branded "not part of the team."
In this case, the Change Agent says to upper management that the company needs to not do the dunk tank. When the dunk tank started, the managers were probably all men. Now the face of the company has changed. This kind of thing can embarrass people because of their size or grooming. But it also has an impact on the how the company is perceived in the public. What benefit is there in opening people and the company to jokes?
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