Drive Out Fear
Work Together, As a System, Instead
No one can put in his best performance unless he feels secure. Se comes from the Latin, meaning without, cure means fear or care. Secure means without fear, not afraid to express ideas, not afraid to ask questions. Fear takes on many faces. A common denominator of fear in any form, anywhere, is loss from impaired performance and padded figures…
Some actual expressions of fear follow:
I am afraid that I may lose my job because the company will go out of business…
I could do a better job if I understood what to do next…
I am afraid that my next annual rating won't recommend me for a raise…
I am afraid that I may not always have an answer when the boss asks something…
I am afraid to admit a mistake…
The system I work in will not permit me to expand my ability…
I do not have the time to take a careful look at my work. I must turn this job out, and start on another one (engineer).- W.E. Deming, Out of the Crisis, pp. 58-59.
"Fear takes a terrible toll. Where are the comptroller’s figures on the losses from fear? They are enormous. Nobody knows their magnitude. Getting people to express their ideas without fear of retribution requires fundamental change, starting with the abolishment of the annual rating system and, in its place, major emphasis on teamwork."
- W.E. Deming., From "An Interview with Dr. W. Edwards Deming," Forum Issues 13, 1991.
Today's Deming-inspired cartoon is brought to you by the 8th of his "Fourteen Points" for the transformation of Western management: Drive out fear. When fear is permitted in an organization, truth becomes obscured and teamwork diminished. As Deming observes in The New Economics, “Fear invites wrong figures. Bearers of bad news fare badly. To keep his job, anyone may present to his boss only good news.” No one can provide good work in an environment of fear.
Fear can also affect management. The second dysfunction Patrick Lencioni identifies in his Five Dysfunctions of a Team concerns fear of conflict:
"Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. Instead they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.
A lack of healthy conflict is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment. Without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings."
What can we do instead? In The New Economics, Dr. Deming implores “It would be better if everyone work together as a system with the aim for everybody to win.” and offers a litany of practices to enhance teamwork, including elimination of rating and ranking people against each other, bonuses and merit pay, and the annual performance appraisal.
How many sources of fear can you identify at work in your organization? What could be done instead?
