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Frame 1
Hermie: “Gary, the interns are starting Monday. Can you document how you maintain our database?”
Gary Gecko (shifty): “Oh. That’s… complicated. And, um… tribal knowledge. Very tribal.”
Frame 2
Hermie: “We really need it recorded, even a screen-capture video is fine.”
Gary: slowly backing into a tall leafy plant “Ummm… I’ll… get right on that.”
Frame 3
(Hermie walks by later. The server room door is ajar. A poorly drawn “Do Not Enter – Very Important IT Work” sign hangs.)
Narration: “One hour later…” (from behind the door we hear “Ooh… Can’t let ‘em find me. I’ll lay low in here…)
Frame 4
Gary, clearly visible but standing behind a rack of servers and electronics, whispering: “Gotta blend in to hide… If they learn what I do, they won’t need me…”
Hermie: “Hey, Gary, buddy, it’s okay… no one is out to replace you. You could use some help, and those processes with benefit you and your team.
Frame 5 (wide panel)
Hermie: Plus, you’re lousy at hiding; you’re not a chameleon. You’re lime green… and we can hear you.”
Gary (sheepishly): Okay… thanks, Hermie. I guess that old “fight or flight” response must have kicked in. Kinda runs in the family
In the latest Hermie the HR Hermit Crab cartoon, Gary the Gecko gives us more than a laugh. He offers a snapshot of a very real workplace phenomenon: the fear of being replaceable. As Hermie gently confronts Gary about documenting his database processes for the incoming interns, Gary slinks into hiding behind server racks, hoping to protect his perceived value by keeping knowledge to himself.
This comic offers more than just a humorous take on workplace quirks; it also attempts to reflect some profound issues in organizational behavior, I-O psychology, and organizational development (OD) in an approachable manner. Let’s explore what we can learn.
Knowledge Hoarding: A Survival Strategy?
Gary frames his reluctance to document his work as tribal knowledge – information so ingrained in his routine that no one has documented and shared it yet. This demonstrates a classic case of knowledge hoarding, where employees resist sharing expertise out of fear that doing so may diminish their value or even lead to job loss.
What the research says: According to Serenko and Bontis (2016), knowledge hoarding often stems from job insecurity, lack of trust, and organizational cultures that reward individual heroism over collaboration. When people think, “If I’m the only one who knows how this works, I can’t be fired,” knowledge becomes power… and a security blanket.
Fight or Flight in the Server Room
Gary hides in the server room, whispering about the fear of being discovered. Gary later rightly names this a “fight or flight” response. This isn’t just a joke; it’s rooted in neuroscience and the triune brain theory.
Reptilian brain alert: The “reptilian brain,” a term popularized by neuroscientist Paul MacLean, refers to the brain stem responsible for survival instincts. When people feel threatened – whether by layoffs, performance reviews, or process changes – they may default to defensive behaviors that are counterproductive in a modern workplace. While modern neuroscience discredits the individual parts of the triune brain (the reptilian brain, the limbic system, and the neocortex) as functioning separately as opposed to working together as a complete, interconnected network, this cartoon merely highlights the survival part of the brain with Gary, a reptile.
Psychological Safety: The Antidote to Fear
Hermie doesn’t scold or shame Gary; he reassures him. He strives here to illustrate textbook psychological safety, a concept introduced by Carol Rogers in the 1950s, explored by Edgar Schein in the 1960s, and developed further by Harvard’s Amy Edmondson starting in the 1990s. When employees feel safe to take interpersonal risks like admitting they don’t know something or documenting their work, they may become more likely to engage in behaviors that benefit the team and organization.
The business case: Psychological safety has a strong correlation with team learning, performance, and innovation. As Edmondson (1999) observed, teams that feel safe outperform others, even when they make more mistakes, because they talk about those mistakes and learn from them.
The Risk of Unshared Knowledge in a Changing Workforce
With interns on the way, Hermie’s push for process documentation reflects an urgent need: knowledge transfer. In many organizations, long-tenured employees steadily head toward retirement, while younger workers cycle in and out at a faster pace. Without formal knowledge capture, companies risk losing institutional knowledge forever.
OD Perspective: This is where dialogic and diagnostic OD interventions shine. Through job shadowing, process mapping, screen captures, and interviews, OD practitioners, such as the professionals here at Harmonious Workplaces, can preserve crucial knowledge while fostering collaboration and reducing anxiety.
Cultural Signals Matter: Transparency vs. Secrecy
Gary’s hand-drawn “DO NOT ENTER – Very Important IT Work” sign is both hilarious and telling. It’s an attempt to shield his space from scrutiny. But it also mirrors how some departments create silos, whether intentionally or not. Transparency, through documentation, cross-training, and shared goals, creates a healthier culture.
Tools for change: Leaders can use onboarding checklists, internal wikis, and screen-recorded how-to videos to ensure knowledge is democratized, not guarded.
Final Thought
Gary’s lime-green body may hinder him from effectively hiding to preserve his stable position, but his behavior remains far too common. It reflects the anxieties many employees feel when faced with change, new hires, or the pressure to “show their work.” Thankfully, Hermie models the kind of leadership we need more of: compassionate, reassuring, and focused on collective success.
Want to see if your organization suffers from knowledge hoarding, low psychological safety, or cultural silos? Take the Harmonious Health Check or submit your own workplace dilemma to Ask Hermie.
Let’s make more harmonious workplaces where no one has to hide behind a server rack ever again.
Sources:
- Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly.
- MacLean, P. D. (1990). The Triune Brain in Evolution: Role in Paleocerebral Functions. Springer.
- Schein, E. H. (2016). Humble consulting: How to provide real help faster. Berrett-Koehler.
- Serenko, A., & Bontis, N. (2016). Understanding counterproductive knowledge behavior: Antecedents and consequences of intra-organizational knowledge hiding. Journal of Knowledge Management.
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