Volume XXII, Number 23 (issue 1079) June 3, 2024
A Chilling Effect
As we move from springtime storms to summer’s intense heat, the irony of including the word “chilling” in today’s title is not lost on me. Nonetheless, I cannot think of a better term to use when it comes to the impact that fear has on our willingness to take a risk or embrace change. Fear, it seems, causes many of us to not stray far from the tried and true. That can continue to be the case long after we experience the sort of friction that comes when the status quo no longer works the way it once did. This reluctance to change applies to organizations almost as much as it does to individuals. That should not come as a surprise since organizations are comprised of people – at least for a little while longer, until the day when the machines and AI takeover.
What I find fascinating about some organizations’ resistance to change is that the one quality that distinguishes CEOs from the other leaders is their willingness to embrace change and be open to new ideas. At least that is what our research over the past twenty years shows. But if CEOS are willing to drive change and their organizations are less so, what is holding up the much-needed progress?
I believe four factors account for much of the problem. First, information, particularly negative news, gets filtered and spun as it moves upward in the organization. As a result, that friction is covered up or explained away rather than reach the ears of those who might direct a change in course. I recall events from my first job out of college where in budget and planning meetings with various department heads our team would often joke that some managers’ responses to our questions fit neatly into one of four statements: “there is no problem,” “the problem is not material,” “we’ve seen the problem and are addressing it’ or “it has recently been resolved.” In short, they were saying we need not concern ourselves since they are on top of things. If only that were usually true.
The second issue, much like the first, is that our information systems frequently lack the data or reporting elements that could alert leadership to an emerging problem. Not just garbage in, garbage out, but dashboards that spotlight the wrong information.
The third challenge organizational leadership must often overcome can be of their own design – specifically, incentive systems that reward the wrong behaviors or that emphasize short term results over long term investment. I find this latter problem particularly prevalent among publicly traded organizations. That is because
their leaders are prone to focus more on meeting quarterly earnings estimates and conveying good news to the markets to support their stock price rather than make the call in favor of the long term good. Privately held companies seldom experience the same sort of pressure.
The fourth and final element in this list of chilling effects (or the box we create for ourselves) is an aversion to risk. When the outcome is difficult to predict with any degree of confidence, some choose to play it safe. For these folks, their mantra may be best described as better safe than sorry. But they should also keep in mind another axiom, noting ventured, nothing gained.
In a recent bit of journaling, I wrote down “ignorance of the risks is bliss for I cannot worry about those things of which I have no knowledge.” As I have subsequently learned, it is a riff on a line from a poem by Thomas Gray. I offer it here because I hope you will not allow fear of failure, loss of face, or loss of place to cause you to be frozen in time or fall victim to a rut. Sometimes, leaps of faith are required.
Soli Deo Gloria
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
J. Keith Hughey
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E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
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