Dr. Deming's Point 8 states:

"Reduce fear throughout the organization by encouraging open, two-way, non-punitive communication. The economic loss resulting from fear to ask questions or report trouble is appalling."

I would like to ask the group to relate stories of fear in their organizations and how fear is addressed (or not) within the organization.

Regards,

Kevin

I think I am very lucky here. We have a few avenues for employees to report anything, from abuse to suggestions.
We have an employee advocate, who is the person any employee can visit, state their problems and have him follow up. Sometimes the issues are quite serious, including sexual harrassment or something lighter like overtime not being paid out correctly.
We also have an anonymous hotline for employees to call that investigates employee complaints and deals as a third party to bring resolution.
Any idea's or suggestions employee's have are dealt with through a suggestion program, and any idea implemented after being reviewed by a panel are rewarded with cash. Quite the incentive to get money for coming up with ideas. These ideas include changes for better safety, cost saving ideas or just improving process flows.
The suggestion program works extremely well.

I'm interested to see how other companies are dealing with this issue. Good question Kevin.

Kevin,
Good topic.
There is a general fear of the General Manager at our facility. He has what he likes to call a “strong personality”. His capabilities are extraordinary and there is widespread respect for his knowledge. He is not a people person. If you have a thin skin, or take his comments personally, he can be quite unbearable. There have been occasions where some people, my self included, have lost it during one of his lectures. I mean like, F.Y. or with an angry response. He doesn’t react like you would expect. After you reach a quiet agreement, have a cup of coffee and it is forgotten. I mean really forgotten. I wouldn’t make a habit out of it, but he will admit he was wrong. He has a flat line reporting authority on the Org Chart with approx. 1/3 of the workforce reporting directly to him. He very rarely delegates. So, for those who do not report directly to him, the fear of his “wrath” is very real. Those of us, who have reported to him, 8 years for me, understand the personality and deal with it. We realize his value to the organization. I’ve grown under his tutelage and just shrug off his occasional rude behavior. Early on, he upset me to the point that I went home. I didn’t trust myself to behave in a rationale manner. He paid for the time off and has told others to go home and cool down. They, too, were paid.
So, what has been done about it? Nothing. All work performed here is done like he will see it. This has been a good thing. You hear things like “don’t let XXX see that” or ” XXX is not going to like that”. In my case, if someone balks on an assignment, I just say, “XXXX wants it done”. Fear can be a good thing if it’s administered correctly. There is also a thin line between fear and respect for the position of the policy makers.
Hey, great avitar.
:rolleyes:

As Sporty has noted in the post above, Fear comes in many forms and from many sources. Fear retards the ability to create Flow in an organization, reduces internal motivation, and creates distrust amongst many other unwanted outcomes. When reading energy’s post, I can’t help but make a very similar connection in the organization I work for. I suppose many of you can do the same.

As Dr. Deming points out in his books, in most organizations you can’t bring the boss anything but good news in fear of some form of reprisal. Reprisal may not be immediate either. It may come much later in the ill-fated concept of “performance review”. Not only can it come later, it often is repeated, the indelible stink of a bad outcome one can’t shed. The only lessoned learned: don’t do that again!! If we are not allowed to learn from our failures, how will we avoid such pitfalls in the future?

When fear is rampant in an organization, it is my belief that cooperation, challenge, and choice are abandoned. When we look at the ritual of performance review, fear of a bad grade interferes with the work necessary to bring excellence to the workplace. To get a good grade, we ‘choose’ projects and tasks that have low risk and a high probability of success. ‘Challenge’ is replaced by work of less meaning, or no meaning, so that we can reign supreme. Supreme over what! Each other? How will we ‘cooperate’ with one another if we are competing against one another?

When we use rating systems for people, we invariably create competition in our organizations. Fear of lost promotions, lower raises, and in general, lower status interpersonally stifle: communication, creativity, cooperation, challenge, and choice (lots of Cs there). Fear of retribution will instill an attitude of “playing it safe.” Who could blame a person? The game becomes one of survival.

When reading energy’s post and relating it to my own experience, I wonder if the same feelings are felt (energy, your back up in a minute). Here, we had a VP of Operations, very sharp and energetic. It is hard not to admire this quality. However, his people skills were also limited. Short with folks when they didn’t think his way and always second-guessed. It wasn’t uncommon to give direction only to see the opposite done because the person who asked you for it, asked him later. Make a mistake: here about it and often with folks present. Later, the nice apology but the damage was done. Who wants to make a decision if it will be second-guessed as ‘public record’ or overturned without your consultation? I term this: Learned Helplessness. What an ugly condition to be reduced to a puppet. Motivation: vanquished! Sadly, an unmotivated employee is as likely to be fired as one who continually makes ‘mistakes’ (or so they are called as folks ignore the fact that the System is mostly responsible for the problems). Fear grows from many directions: damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Well, I should turn this back to the group before I run on for a while.

Regards,

Kevin

p.s. I found the sole picture I had of myself on my computer here and used it as the Avitar. Thanks for getting me my first one though!!

Kevin and all...Great topic!!!

I work for a small company, sole proprietor who has turned over day to day to a group of core people who have worked for him for a very long time. For the most part, things run pretty smooth.

A few years ago, one of the shop guys told the owner I said something critical of his actions. I was called into the plant managers office, and the owner tore into me hard, with language that I found appalling. I shut my mouth, contemplated walking out and never looking back. When he finished, he asked me if I had anything to say. This is what I told him "Never in my life have I been spoken to in such a fashion by the owner of a company I worked for. Perhaps I need to move on." He was silent. Then he asked the plant manager to leave (btw..his jaw was on the ground, no on had ever said something like this to the owner before). The owner then turned to me and appologised. He and I have had the best relationship ever since. I turned the fear he was trying to push onto me right back at him.

Fear is a tool used by many, but recognize it and move past it.

CarolX

CarolX,

I call the approach the owner used “Management by Intimidation”. I might have read that somewhere, so don’t give me too much credit.

I worked for a very prominent Medical Device Manufacturer who used those techniques. The problem is that after a bit, the hostage will take on the kidnapper’s disposition and continue to spread this Fear tactic. It was rampant throughout.
When we think about the traditional Western Management Philosophy of Command Control, it is an inescapable conclusion that we tend to manage with ‘carrots and sticks’. If you do this and do it well enough, incentives and rewards are received. Do that and do it poorly, suffer the wrath of the stick! Is that what we are after? Raise them up artificially and then beat them down? There is a better way.

Using fear to manipulate people is Skinnerian Thinking at work. Why try to educate a worker on the need to do something when you can use “carrots or sticks” to get it done and presumably faster? One method requires effort: the other does not.

Regards,

Kevin

Greetings all... great topic!

Dr. Deming had the right of it. Organizations must drive out fear in order for there to be true growth, both in the organization and in the individual. How is a person to grow except from making mistakes? We don't learn anything when we do something right, we learn when we do something incorrect. If fear of retribution for making a mistake is the culture of the organization, then little mistakes (those that can't be ignored) are buried. These little mistakes will ultimately become a big mistake that could get someone hurt or worse. Worse yet, managers walk around denying that anything is wrong for fear that they will be viewed as ineffectual. This is a truly a self-perpetuating cycle - since they are ineffectual because of their fear.

Since fear is one of the strongest emotions we have (i.e. the fight or flight syndrome) the tension level from fear is devistating. Not only does it hinder production, it can cause physical illness rates to skyrocket and cost the company many thousands of dollars paying out sick-leave benefits due to employees being out due to mental illness reasons.

Since we're telling war stories, I worked for a Plant Manager who used to go onto the plant floor, grab a product off of the production line, inspect it and if it didn't pass his inspection, he would to throw it across the shop floor and start cursing at all the employees around. Now, this is that same man who, when production was a little behind or past a ship date, would tell the same employees, "That's good enough - just ship it." Nice guy, huh?

Personally, I evaluate the abilities of anyone I work with (subordinates, peers and seniors, alike) on their ability to get the job done without the use of coercion or fear. If you have to resort to fear and intimidation - ya just don't get it.

Cheers!!!

Great subject Kevin!!

Thinking - there are many folks that deal with this type of issue daily.. in one form or another..

At a former employer the outright "intimidation" was not used - but actions by "those in charge" - tended to mold the internal culture - into a similar "fear" type reaction...

Example
- tell one person in great detail what needs to be done - then go tell another "exactly the opposite" - then go tell the third person they no longer need to be "in the loop...

No consistant management decisions were being made at all.!!

The resulting confusion over time developed an environment where no one was bold enough to venture forth and make any type of decision.. if for no other reason "frustration".

Regards
Jim

Fear!! Bah...Humbug!!!!!:p

I've got more that 1/2 dozen gun-shot wounds, a real good scar from being knifed, and assorted other holes in my skin from flying pieces of metal. Words tossed at me don't mean squat. If it ain't big enough to eat me it can kiss my 5th point of contact.

I cannot be intimidated and other folks should learn not to be also. Managers (I won't say Leaders because there are very few of those) only do what they can get away with. Rudeness, intimidation, and other negative characteristics have no place in the modern business establishment.

I just left an environment working as a contractor for a US gov't office. The GS-13 puke that ran it was one of worst of the worst. He threatened, intimidated, humiliated and chastised on a daily basis. Most of the time I smiled back at him, the rest of the time I just turned my back and walked away. He was out of line and knew it....so do most other people that act that way. I now make about 3 times as much working for myself and laughing.

Use, and tell other folks to use whatever legal resources are at hand to control un-warranted and un-professional actions occurring in the workplace. It's hard I know and I talk kinda tough too, but I've been there more than once and if there is one thing I've learned it's this...Most of the people that resort to bad manners and bullying are really cowards who will back down or run when confronted. You just need to be correct in the way you do it.

Originally posted by Randy
I cannot be intimidated and other folks should learn not to be also.

Hi Randy,

By-and-large, I would agree with you. After spending 11 years in the Navy, I've learned not to be afraid of most anything anyone has to dish out. Most of it is just chest puffing anyway. However, most people on the shop floor don't have that kind of background/experience.

For example, take Joe Average... a working stiff who may or may not have a high school diploma. He's a good worker making a fairly decent wage (non-union shop for argument's sake), has a wife, two kids, a mortgage, a car payment -- perhaps two, and is virtually living from paycheck to paycheck. He is definitely afraid of losing his job and definitely has to take Mr. Bully Supervisor or Ms. Bully Manager very seriously when he or she starts barking. God forbid he turns his back on them in the middle of a tirade... that would be tatamount to job suicide. He simply cannot afford to do that. So he has to suck it up (so to speak) and just go on working, trying his best to draw as little attention to himself as possible. Does he want to come to work? Hell no. Does he take pride in his job or satisfaction in a job well done? Highly doubtful. He probably never knows when he's doing a good job. There isn't that kind of feedback. Does he hate coming to work every day? Yepper. Would he be willing to go the extra mile for the company when they needed it? Don't even think about it. Could he quit... sure, but how long would it take him to find another job that pays a decent wage?

Now - if the culture of the company allows this type of action to take place, you can bet that he has no recourse if he goes to HR. Legal action? How can he afford it?

I just wanted to point out the hopelessness that fear can generate in the average worker.

Food for thought....

Cheers!!

MT,
As a past practioner of martial arts, Tang Soo DO Black Belt holder, I know that I could dispatch some hurt on any threatening type Manager in the workplace. That's means absolutely nothing in the working environment. If you need the job, as you said, suck it up or move on. Your example of the worker with the family is right on. I've seen some big people intimidated by a vertically challenged Manager because of the 'Fear" of losing the job.

:mad:

Energy...

So what you're saying is that youth and vigor will never win over age and treachery? ;) :D

My dad told me that, and still does when I tend to get a little "big for my britches"... *laff*. :p

Hope all y'all have a good weekend.

MT,
(Quote)"So what you're saying is that youth and vigor will never win over age and treachery? "
No, Youth and vigor will almost always win out in job offers. They are are usually cheaper and deemed to last longer. If you're talking about youth and vigor confronting age in the other type situation, there is no such thing as treachery. Anything goes!!

Boy, you're quick. I had gone back and edited that portion out because I felt that I misinterpreted Randy's post. He gave his record of "hurts" and compared those serious things to intimidation in the workplace which doesn't compare. Randy wasn't on line at the time, so I was glad I edited. I don't want a pis-ed of Ex-Marine on my Navy behind.

Randy,
My edited portion had to do with violence in the work environment, which you were no way were advocating. I just got so fired up I was ready to beat up on some of those fear dispensers.

Kevin,
I ran across this while browsing some publications on the Internet. This is not spam. I haven't read the book. Titled "The Control Theory Manager" by William Glasser, they provide a sample excerpt that is right in line with this thread.

It is: "That American managers, even those who use Deming as a consultant, have been largely unable to duplicate the Japanese success is well documented in Andrea Gabor's 1990 book, The Man Who Brought Quality to America. From Ms. Gabor's book, it is apparent that Deming's argument for intrinsic motivation is not strong enough to convince most American managers to stop bossing and to start leading.

Control theory supplies the convincing argument for lead-management that Deming does not provide. For example, in point eight of his fourteen points for management, Deming tells managers that in their dealings with workers they should "drive out fear." But as Ms. Gabor tells her story, it is clear that none of the three companies she writes about (Xerox, Ford, and General Motors) are willing to do this to the extent that Deming claims, and control theory explains, it must be done.

This is because the people at the top of these companies, much as those at the top of most American companies, believe that fear is an important motivator. They have believed this all their lives and they are not about to stop because an expert, even as successful an expert as Deming, tells them it is wrong. Control theory explains clearly why workers who are not fearful do quality work. And, the more they are treated in need-satisfying ways, the more willingly and joyfully they apply themselves, further increasing the quality of their work. More than most management consultants, Deming talks a lot about joy in work, but few bosses seem to hear this part of what he has to say."

I just meant to say that there is no real physical reason to be have to be intimidated in any workplace. My past work placed me in a position where I had a tendency to lose a little hide now and then and I never let it bother me so why should I or anybody else be frightened with mear words and blustering. :o

The intention was to provide an illustration that there are more serious things than words, blustering and hard looks. As a fellow Southern Californian (Rodney King) stated a few years back just as I was about to get a paid vacation in beautiful burnt out Los Angeles "Can't we just all get along?";)

Generallly I think the people that act outside of accepted norms of behavior will trip themselves up, be found out or get the boot when the heat comes down on them. IMHO:D

energy,

Great timing on posting this quote: this year’s Deming Conference October 13th and 14th is entitled “Joy in Work”. Anyone interested in attending should visit the W. Edwards Deming Institute for further details. Cost for the two day conference: $150. From my past experience these conferences are worth every penny!!

Ford is the most disappointing of them all. Given the chance to recapture the lion’s share of the market, they are quickly squandering their gains to foolish practices tied into programs of Movement (carrot and stick) in place of a plan of Motivation presented to them by Dr. Deming. Ford’s recent declaration of deploying a Six Sigma almost certainly endorses their demise, in my opinion.

In another thread, I explored the differences of Movement and Motivation. I believe the thread title I used was, “Does money motivate?” I recommend that thread to those who have not read it yet and might be following this one. Andrea Gabor’s book does support Glasser’s comments. Dr. Deming was often frustrated with folks who did not grasp this concept. I feel this is tied into heavily to our assumptions and the paradigms we are held in.

For change to occur, we need one of two things to happen: Courage to make the change based on knowledge or discomfort with our current paradigm. Folks at these three companies were not uncomfortable with their paradigm and they lacked profound knowledge (wisdom to make the change). As Joel Arthur Barker has stated, they were in the grips of “Paradigm Paralysis”, helpless to make the paradigm shift. Just look at Ford: regressing to a previous state of Command Control under Nasser’s reign. He is no good for the company.

Well, back to the group. Thanks for all the excellent feedback and anecdotes!

Regards,

Kevin

Fear ... is probably something that is not discussed enough, partly because it comes in so many guises. It can be the in-your-face manager or co-worker. It can be something you can see coming for a long time but cannot resist. Or it can be a result of something suddenly shocking and horrifying. Here's some examples of organizational fear that I have seen.

An actual advertisement in the Help Wanted section: "Wanted - 5 people willing to work, to replace 5 who weren't. Call XXXX at 555-1234". This was many years ago an in another city, but I have always wondered - who would want to respond to that?

When I was a DOD civilian worker, I went though the military base closure process twice. The first time we survived, the second we did not. The process may be efficient for the government but it is **** on the people. As an individual you feel powerless against the oncoming force. Rumor runs rampant. Your career is at the mercy of some nameless, faceless commission back in DC. What you do and how you do it means absolutely nothing. When the decision is announced it is a vast relief whichever way it goes, because finally you have some certainty again.

I occasionaly help teach refresher cources for ASQ certifications. Most of the time it is very enjoyable. One Certified Quality Technician class, however, was a real nightmare. About 70% of the students worked for a single company. All had been there a number of years, and I think several had more than ten years. That company told them to take the class and the exam, AND told them that their continued employment was contingent on becoming certified ... (If you are not aware, ASQ certification exams typically have about a 20% first-time pass rate.)

I won't dwell on my current source of fear, other than to say that my wife and I both work for a major airline ... this week, at least.

To add the words of former President Kennedy: " the great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, but the myth" The myth is very often the driver of fear.

Originally posted by gpainter

To add the words of former President Kennedy: "...the great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, but the myth..." The myth is very often the driver of fear.Yes - but the lie, often repeated, becomes the myth. That's where myths come from - lies and pronunciations derived from 'faith'.

There was a great PBS special some years ago titled "Joseph campbell and the The Power of Myth" where Bill Moyers interviewed Joseph Campbell for several hours. It's several tapes. Two other great works to read to understand myth, especially with respect to religion, are Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" (written over 40 years ago) and his master works (a 4 volume set) "The Faces of God". Joseph Campbell died in 1987 at the age of 83. He was considered the world's foremost authority on mythology.

You can see this today by looking at the news in the US since 9/11. And it's classic. The 'Hero' and the 'Deed' and the 'evil forces'.

Fear is not an inherent or genetic condition, if one is true to themself fear is only generated by and shown by a singular mentality of ones own experiences.

Strong mind and body will overcome the outward manifestations of fear.

Are all of us fearful at one time or another? YES.

Can our inner being and strength overcome those feeling? YES

Maybe put it this way:

Self confidence and a good super-ego can help us fight any individual fears we may manifest.

Fear, if used appropriately and judiciously can produce the results you desire.

I can remember being a 17 year old burr-headed "Boot" in the Marines. Fear motivated me as well as everyone else. The fear I had was the fear of failure. I learned not to be afraid of climbing stuff, jumping into water with 50 lbs on my back and all that other Huh-Rah stuff. I feared failing that which I set out to do, The Drill Instructors knew which buttons to push and how hard to push them. We were also, in no un-certain terms, kept informed of what it was we were expected to do and in what fashion we were to do it. No ifs, ands, or buts. Last of all we had the fear of ultimate failure thrust on us weekly when the casualty reports from VietNam were posted to help encourage us to succeed in our training and self-development goals. We were taught lessons of teamwork, respect (of authority and subordinates), self control, endurance, and trust, all of which are useful and necessary in todays workplace.

Fear, that is coupled with earned respect, is not necessarily a bad thing. Fear, brought on by heavy handedness, has no legitimate place in the modern, progressive workplace.

Randy,

In the end was it fear, respect, or self-determination?

As always with respect,

It's hard to say. I believe they were equal parts of a balanced equation where the end result is not necessarily the same in all cases.

I guess the best way to approach the original topic (whatever that was) is to say that the greatest way to overcome is to not be overpowered (mentally speaking of course). Recognize the fact that the fear approach is normally used by people that are weak in character (and possibly in skills also) and is the only method they can identify with to obtain that level of success or dominance in their environment. True leaders (leaders are not the same as managers) don't need to resort to bullying, threats, intimidation or whatever. True leaders have contagious air about them that envelopes and energizes others efforts to do not only what is desired, but to also seek success out of personal desire and sense of self worth internal and external to the organization.

(How's my Thesis going?):bigwave:

Randy,

Sounds as if it is going well!

I was raised and educated in the sciences. The transition to business was brutal and often time depressing. I can emphasize here.... If you haven't read Bob Lewis, his articles always start out with a 'Managementspeak' followed by a translation or two. You can find a listing of Bob's articles Here (http://www2.infoworld.com/cgi/component/columnarchive.wbs?column=survival)

*********************

From InfoWorld (http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/09/10/010910opsurvival.xml) 's 'Survival' column.

By Bob Lewis

<FONT COLOR="#660000">MANAGEMENTSPEAK: You will have limited input.</font>
<FONT COLOR="#000066">TRANSLATION 1: You'll have no input.
TRANSLATION 2: You can make as many suggestions as you like.
Of course, we'll ignore each and every one of them.</font>

-- IS Survivalist Kevin Bevins provided excellent input, don't you think?

I'VE FIGURED OUT the difference between scientific knowledge and business knowledge:

<FONT COLOR="#660000">Scientific</font> knowledge depends on facts, logic, and the rigorous testing of ideas in the laboratory and the field.

<FONT COLOR="#000066">Business</font> knowledge depends on the assertion of pet biases with great confidence and exorbitant billing rates.

By now I've read or listened to at least a dozen authorities in the field of managing organizational change. Most begin by explaining that resistance to change is wired into the human brain; it is natural and instinctive, the result of millions of years of evolution.

As it happens, my graduate studies were in the field of sociobiology, so I'm confident I know more than these "experts" about what is and isn't hardwired into the human brain. Yes, some hard wiring exists in the human brain -- not a lot, but some. And no, resistance to change isn't any of it, nor do people (at least, not those raised in Western cultures -- I'm insufficiently knowledgeable about the rest to speak with confidence) resist all change as a matter of learned behavior either.

Want proof? Here's a simple experiment you can perform in the privacy of your own organization. Offer your employees an upgrade to a piece of core technology they use every day: Buy them a new car of their choosing. You'll pay for the gas, insurance, maintenance, and repairs -- no strings attached. How many employees do you think will resist this change?

Few people automatically resist change.

What's most commonly mistaken for resistance to change is something quite different: <FONT COLOR="#660000"><b>fear of the unknown</b></font>.

Most people fear the unknown, which is easy to understand. Whether you imagine a toe-eating monster lurking under your bed, a crazed mugger lurking in a dark alley, or layoffs lurking under the current process re-engineering effort at your company, the possible risks of the unknown -- dismemberment, death, or unemployment in these situations -- outweigh the possible benefits.

This is why the most useful tools in any change leader's toolkit are the <FONT COLOR="#660000">Three C's</font>: communication, communication, and more communication.

<FONT COLOR="#000066">That is what's required to change the unknown into the known. If the known is a new car, so much the better. If not, at least employees know the worst that can happen, which is always better than the worst they can imagine.</font>

Marc,

Bob brings up a good topic: the correlation of fear and change. Nice post!!

Someone once showed me an interesting diagram or model for change. I do not recall who the creator of it was nor all the details, but the thing that still sticks in my mind is this. If anyone knows what I am describing, please let me know as I would like to have this to review. I will do my best here to describe what I remember.

First, imagine a square divided into four smaller squares by crossed lines. As it was shown to me, top left to bottom left in a clockwise fashion showed the various stages we go through when experiencing a paradigm. One of the upper squares (I believe top right) had a label of “wisdom” and a lower squares had “fear” (bottom right if I recall). The assertion was the in order for a paradigm shift to occur, we need to achieve either wisdom or fear. Unfortunately, wisdom is often not enough and we resist change. It is only when we become uncomfortable, such as with fear, that we generally make the shift without exception. Fear in this instance is good because it creates the uncomfortable feelings and MOVES us to change. Mostly, we would like to be MOTIVATED to make change, but wisdom is rare enough to stifle the shift.

Communication is key, especially when selling a new paradigm. The resistance to change comes with lack of interest in the new paradigm or when an individual has not reached critical mass (not enough fear to change). Every individual has a different “fear” threshold and this compounds the difficulty in making change happen. We must wait until all folks reach critical mass or we can communicate the need for change and appeal to the intrinsic factors of knowledge and wisdom. Often times when critical mass is the desired method, we add a catalyst or two to speed up the process (sticks and bribes, punishment or new cars).

Someone here commented on the judicious use of fear to gain affect for change. This was rather specific to the world of the armed forces. Fear “of the stick” or the physical use “of the stick” will get people to do what you want them to do (the stick holder is motivated for change, but the one being chased with the stick is not). In the armed forces, this may be necessary especially when drilling people to behave in a prescribed manner. I am not convinced. Rather than wait the required time to have folks find the answers within themselves, it is quicker to bark orders and coerce behavior. Sadly, this trickles into all forms of things we do: schools, work, and our families. Using movement is easier than finding ways to educate people allowing them to find a motivation to do something.

Communication as Bob points out leads to understanding, understanding to know-how, and know-how to wisdom. Effective communicators don’t need “carrots and sticks” to get their points across and change will happen through wisdom, not fear.

Just some thoughts…

Kevin

Kevin,

Sometimes it's wise to be afraid. It keeps you from going down the wrong trail or into the wrong doorway.;)

Randy,

I'm still not convinced that it is fear. Maybe apprehension of the unknown?

Fear is when I wake up and find a stranger in the house, apprehension is when I get up in front of a group to speak.

As always with respect!:bigwave:

Look at Webster's definition of 'fear', especially the intrasitive senses.


Main Entry: fear
Pronunciation: 'fir
Date: before 12th century

transitive senses
1 archaic : FRIGHTEN
2 archaic : to feel fear in (oneself)
3 : to have a reverential awe of <fear God>
4 : to be afraid of : expect with alarm

intransitive senses : to be afraid or apprehensive

I don't have apprehension or fear when I speak to large groups....I just want to pee my pants:biglaugh:

Originally posted by Randy
Kevin,

Sometimes it's wise to be afraid. It keeps you from going down the wrong trail or into the wrong doorway.;)

I don't believe that the fear you have in mind is the same kind of fear to which Kevin is referring. As Al said, it may be apprehension - that is not fear. The fear of going down the wrong trail is a distrust of your own judgement, or someone elses instructions. The fear to which Kevin (and Dr. Deming) is referring to is the chronic debilitating fear of taking a risk at one's job, or the fear of doing one's job incorrectly - feeling insecure in your position, inadequate at the task at hand, anxious about what your boss will say.

The kind of fear (or apprehension) quoted above is a healthy thing - an intutitive instrument that helps keep us out of trouble. The kind of fear Dr. Deming is referring to is the kind that paralizes an organization, that saps the strength from its employees, that keeps the brightest stars hiding their light because they don't want to be the subject of scorn or ridicule. It is through the use of coercion rather than cooperation, it is the use of the carrot & stick rather than a helping hand, it is the Pavlovian use of rewards and punishment to elicit a certain behavior. That kind of fear is all well and good, as long as you want autonomatons who cannot or will not think for themselves and can only do things ONE way... the way that is dictated. They are powerless over their surroundings and unable to do anything to change their situation because they are afraid of the consequences.

I have witnessed this kind of fear... it is not a pretty sight. It only serves a few select individuals - but does not serve the company nor the employees. In the short run, this kind of fear can serve the shareholders, but ultimately, it even fails them because they are left holding shares of a worthless burned out husk of a company that cannot think, cannot evolve and cannot move itself out of its rut. It is stuck and doomed to die unless management can drive out the fear.

These are my thoughts on fear... ;)

Cheers!!!

Fear of uncertainty is one of the basic causes of not wanting to change. We must let everyone know immediately how change will effect them. I do not recall the square, the thing I remember is the icecube 3 step process. unfreezing, changing and refreezing.