D’Amore-McKim Prof Talks Impact of Constant Change in White House

Following the recent and very abrupt exit of Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, D’Amore-McKim School of Business Assistant Professor and leadership expert Parker Ellen spoke with News@Northeastern writer Molly Callahan about the “constant change on organizational culture” within the White House.

Scaramucci is the 10th White House staffer to (ahem) depart the Trump sphere in the last six months ,but in the specific case of “The Mooch,” as he’s become affectionately known, it was to offer new Chief of Staff John Kelly “a clean state,” according to White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Although Ellen identifies with Kelly’s tactic—“I’d want some assurance that if I took the job, I could build the face of the organization the way I wanted it”—he explains that frequent turnover “makes it difficult for staff to develop and execute strategy. Constantly changing upper leadership can mean a dilution, or loss altogether, of internal culture. It can get to the point where you don’t know who your boss is.”

There’s certainly overlap in this department between public and private sectors but there are also some pronounced disparities, particularly in the White House where, as Ellen explains, “essentially half of your ‘organization’ is actively working against your strategy and agenda.”

“You start to see employees asking broad questions about the direction of the organization, such as, ‘What does this mean for where we’re going? Are we going to get there? Do we even know where we’re going?’ Constantly shaking things up certainly keeps people on their toes, but it also creates stress. Some stress is good, but this kind isn’t. This is generally a hindrance stressor.”

regions: Boston

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