Preface

The author recalls her early experiences in industrial psychology, which is often derided by academics as a vulgarization of their domain by applying it to commercial interests. But in reality, industrial psychology elevates the domain to something more scientific: it is not about theorizing about behavior, but testing and observing it in a measurable way.

On the other side, businessmen often dismiss psychology as fanciful, as the psychology at the time of the Industrial Revolution read a great deal more like mythology that science and was, in fact, entirely effete and impractical. But when experiments in the field have measurable impact on productivity and profitability, business gives psychology a great deal more respect.

But the unfortunate side effect of all of this is that the application of psychology to business often involves greater control and monitoring of staff, "overdoing the science and downplaying the human." And as a result, it has often made the lives of employees more difficult and their work less satisfactory - with the workplace being a constant laboratory in which the workers are treated as experimental subjects. "Leadership has taken a great leap backwards to the familiar territory of command and control."

Reference the Hawthorne experiments, which were originally intended to determine whether increasing or decreasing lighting led to greater productivity. The results at first were baffling: whether lighting was increased or decreased, productivity went up. It was eventually discovered that the lighting wasn't the issue: it was that the workers were aware they were being observed, and worked faster for fear of being singled out.

She suggests that "there is a considerable body of research" that indicates a rise of fear in organizations: employees fear being laid off or terminated, being demoted or humiliated, or otherwise being punished by the ever-watching eye. It is so pervasive and self-sustaining that it is difficult to isolate the exact causes of fear: it is simply a normal part of workplace culture.

And so, the idea of fear in the workplace is the topic of this book: it affects workers psychologically, emotionally, and physiologically. Used inappropriately, it can make the work environment into a "psychologically dangerous" place. While OSHA has been concerned with physical dangers of the workplace, there's little concern for psychological ones. "The proportions of people who say they feel frightened at work, who are afraid to speak out, who feel bullied or humiliated by their managers, who are afraid of losing their jobs, who feel helpless and unable to change their situation, is quite shocking, as evidenced by the number of studies."

Of course, not all workplaces are toxic - and very often those that are did not intend to become that way. Companies generally pay lip-service to a desire to have "engaged and productive" staff, even when their actions and decisions prevent engagement and productivity. While healthy workplaces serve as examples of good leadership, they are less concerning than those who are on the opposite end of the spectrum. And even the best organizations contain "pockets of fear" within them.

It's also necessary to consider the perspective of the worker, who brings his own "human programming" to the workplace, shaped by his own beliefs and values. People change their behaviors depending on context, and in the workplace there is the tendency of the employee - even without being threatened - to suppress individual instincts and patterns to conform to the group culture. (EN: More aptly, people conform to what they assume the group culture to be, and their assumptions are often more sinister than the organizational culture really is. Moreover, there are certain types who seek to have influence by manipulating others, using unfounded fear as their method to gain control.)

Fear, in itself, is one of the most powerful emotions. Ti evolved as a way to warn and protect us from grave danger, in instances where there is a serious threat to survival, and as such it has the ability to override other emotions. It is also the basis for social dominance - the stronger have always dominated the weaker by means of terrorism, demanding subservience under threat of physical harm, and has a deep instinctual power to cause people to turn off their minds and obey, making it a convenient method of manipulating others - which makes it a very attractive tool to autocrats and manipulators, and one they may be loath to abandon.

In this book the author intends to explore the emotion of fear within large organizations: how it arises, how it can be recognized and how we can deal with it. She suggests that a "widespread culture of fear" exists, and has been fueled by the recent economic downturn, such that it has spread through most organizations. Later chapters will consider ways in which the culture of fear can be identified and mitigated, so that creativity, productivity, and innovation can replace obedience and conformity. "Most importantly, we can attempt to create healthy organizations in which people want to work."