Leadership Follies – Wake Up and Smell The Stupid

Do you deal with an organization or service provider whose performance is lacking, but somehow you continue to accept their poor performance? If you honestly think about it, you’ll probably answer “yes.” But don’t fret too much because we all do it to some degree. But why do we put up with mediocrity and worse?  What is the benefit from it?  What can we do about it?

Do smart people really allow themselves to be in a bad situation for prolonged periods of time?

How long did you let it go on?

Bad marriages, hostile workplaces, and even unsafe living conditions are just some of the things that we see and read about on a regular basis that show us that we put up with unsatisfactory conditions in our lives.  Most of us know people and deal with these levels or poor performance in our lives much of the time.  We can see that these low-level providers are unproductive at best and unhealthy at worst.  We often complain about them, much of the time.  But seldom do we work up the courage to alter them.  We do this because of something called “learned helplessness.”

Learned Helplessness

Based on a theory discovered by Martin Seligman, people who see themselves in situations where they have no control are reported to have higher stress levels and lower productivity.  It can be related to the workplace easily:

An uncontrollable situation can be harmful to a person even without it being physically painful or recognizable to them. Feeling helpless can do serious damage to motivation in any situation, even those filled with luxury and privilege. An example of this is the poor little rich boy whose daddy does everything for him.  As a kid he breaks a window with a ball, and daddy fixes it.  He gets regrettable grades in school but gets into college anyway because daddy gave a big donation. After graduation, he gets a job with a big salary and a corner office in daddy’s firm. He has learned that

Surprisingly, the poor little rich boy’s situation is similar to the unhappy worker suffering under a hypercritical boss.

While the worker is overloaded with criticism and the rich boy has an overabundance of goodies, both lack a sense of control. Neither feels they can influence what happens to them. Seligman emphasizes in his research on learned helplessness that it is not the quality of the situation that causes feelings of helplessness and depression. Even though we tend to think that the cause is punitive circumstances, situations filled with rewards can also lead to the same debilitating learned helplessness and depression when the person does not have to perform to get those rewards.

When we don’t feel like we have control, the workplace can be “toxic”.  Given the economic situation, there are many organizations, departments and teams where employees perceive a sense of learned helplessness.  True or not, it can be detrimental.  It can lead to simple forgetfulness, decease in attention to safety and outright aggression.

What can a leader do to impact organizational learned helplessness?

1) Determine what is vital to the organization’s success.

Identify the critical keys to the organization’s (company, group, team, etc.) success.  This is not a simple undertaking, but one that is necessary to long-term and sustainable success.  It is akin to Jack Welch’s belief that GE should be in the top 3 of every industry it played.  Or, it could be like Lexus’ “beat Benz”.  Many organizations try to be too many things to too many people.  They think by taking on more they can please many but end up disappointing instead.  Organizations should focus on what they do well (core competencies).  Find ways to expand them and do them even better.

2) Uncover the trends in your organization

Too often trends within the organization, including learned helplessness, are unknown at best and accepted at worst.  In order to shed light on the current situation it is vital that an engagement study is conducted.  The results of the study will uncover the nature of the organization and highlight issues/opportunities.  It will show where learned helplessness may lie within the organization and where things are exemplary.

3) Acknowledge what is so.

The road to recovery from any bad place starts with acknowledging where you are.  It is very important to not be overly harsh nor sugarcoat the situation.  If your team or organization seems to be in a pattern or viscous cycle of:

• Constant personal problems
• Failure to meet deadlines
• Chronic business partner or internal customer issues

Then it is time clearly state what the problem is and what it is costing you. Quantifying the cost is the first step to understanding what you are losing by keeping the status quo. The status quo in many cases is the enemy of altering the pattern of learned helplessness.  Even if the current situation is not desirable, the “devil that you know is better than the devil you don’t” to most people.

4) Align strategy/uncover culture

Next it is vital to begin the work of aligning strategy and culture throughout the organization.  This can be accomplished in a number of different ways but should not be taken lightly.  The first step is to educate and communicate to leaders.  Due to changing need of employees, having a powerful on-line tool is critical to making this a reality.  Of course, a comprehensive game plan- including communication, tools, etc. – is necessary.  The first six months is critical and can work to make the cultural/strategic alignment a reality.

5) Show managers /leaders there is another way

Probably one of the most important methods of breaking out of organizational learned helplessness is to educate leaders/managers about alternatives.  It is vital to have consistent and readily available training and tools to show managers how to do things differently. Making it easy to understand and implement is important.  Not that the change itself is going to be easy but the “how” must be easy to find and use.

6) Reward innovation and smart risk taking

There is a saying – “People do what they rewarded to do”.  That is true, but even more true is that people are compelled by what others rewarded for doing.  This is where the rubber hits the road.  True innovation should be rewarded.  People and teams that get results in different ways SHOULD BE REWARDED.  Unless it is either illegal or demeaning, innovation must be cultivated and encouraged actively.  This goes hand in hand with smart risk taking.  People should be rewarded for failure if they tried something that did not work and helped the organization learn.  Of course the risk cannot have sacrificed organizational reputation, clients or be unethical.  Outside of that, risks and the people that take them should be commended.  Taking smart risks and stretching to be innovative is a sure fire way to break the cycle of learned helplessness and make sure it doesn’t come back.

Can you break the cycle?

There a numerous instances of organizations breaking out of the malaise of learned helplessness.  Although not an exact science, the organizations that were able to get past LH used some combination of the six steps outlined.  Ford Motor Company is a perfect example of a company that has broken the cycle of learned helplessness.  Hundreds of teams have accomplished this feat within companies.  Go ahead give it a try, if couldn’t get any worse…

Is your organization suffering from Learned Helplessness?  What are you doing to determine if your organization’s state? Or are you just hoping that things will work themselves out?  If you are preparing, I would love to hear what you are doing or how!

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Email to a friend

———————————————————-
Anil Saxena is a Senior Consultant and Business Partner at the Coffman Organization.
He can be reached at [email protected]

Image Sources: demotivationalminds.files.wordpress.com