“I’m just trying to stay off the radar”
“I’m keeping my head down”
“I’m not going to stick my neck out”
I can’t count the times I have heard comments like that over the years. I bet you have too. You generally hear this in an organization where people are just trying to survive. They have come to believe that raising your hand means getting dumped on… or having it cut off. Any sense of commitment, engagement or passion has long gone. Now the focus is on avoiding risk, avoiding work, avoiding the boss, avoiding the project…avoiding leadership. When an organization is operating with an avoidance culture the costs are severe.
Imagine the energy that is expended in avoiding.
- Hours spent rationalizing to others
- Innovation burned on creative excuses
- Reams of “CYA” documents and emails
- Projects that cycle through endless indecision
- Passion spent on being right instead of doing right
- Ideas that never see the light of day
Yet I am amazed at how many organizations not only live with this huge energy leak but continually sustain it by repeating the same behaviors that created it. Imagine driving down the road with a hole in your gas tank and then complaining about the price of gas and how often you have to refill the tank. Not too far afield from the comments you hear from leaders in avoidance cultures. “Why can’t we seem to get any traction”? “Why does everything take longer than it should?” “Why are all the best people leaving our company?” The cause comes back to one source, leadership. When leaders use fear, blame, manipulation, competition, indifference and unrealistic goals to maintain control – people learn to avoid attention. Not just bad attention, any attention at all.
An avoidance culture can’t survive or thrive in the presence of effective leadership. If you find you have inherited an avoidance culture in your organization, team or coaching assignment here are a few ideas to consider:
- Declare the problem and the impact it has on the organization
- Provide a compelling reason to change
- Start with the leadership team
- Create opportunities for people to test your commitment
- Establish a culture of accountability without blame
- Reward the people who stretch
- Model and expect honest and authentic communication
When you move from a culture of avoidance to a culture of action performance can improve dramatically even with little change to the underlying operating process or strategy. People will grow, profits will grow and the positive energy will be felt by your customers. Here’s the point. It’s not them, it’s you. Leaders too often want to blame people for being uninspired, unmotivated and under-performing. We wonder where all the initiative has gone? If avoidance is sapping the energy in your organization it’s time to invite people out of the fox holes and into the fray. And go first.
“You can’t implement a ‘blue ocean’ strategy if no one is willing to get in the boat.”
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/geoff_mv/
Awesome job Scott! Great read and I concur with Skip’s points above, wasted talent and energy.
As someone who is in an organization like that I can relate to everything you say. It is why I work so hard to build the right kind of organizations outside of my “day job.” I see the mistakes and make sure I never make them in my life.
It is not easy to wake an organization up to this reality and get leaders to own it and change it. Another price of avoidance. Then when the consequences finally catch up the question becomes obvious… “how did so many people avoid the truth and avoid responding to it for so long?” Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for trying to make a difference.
Superb… absolutely right on it.
Thank you – I was hoping this was an issue that others have seen and would appreciate discussing.
What a great post, Scott! What a waste of talent. When everyone in an organization is hiding and avoiding, we don’t tap into the skills of the group and instead we end up getting more of what we don’t want. Well-said!
Thank you Skip – I think that’s what inspired me to write about this topic. The waste of energy is so frustrating. So much potential lost. One of the first actions a leader can take to move the organization forward is to break down avoidance habits in the culture and move towards action.
Reblogged this on Leadership Advantage and commented:
Avoidance always leads to disappointment – ’tis time to address the obstacles and enjoy being in the Creative Cycle and at cause for your own life.
Thank you John! Love your phrase, “being in the Creative Cycle”.
Hey Scott – it’s powerful huh :-)
Thought I;d already published this but seems not: http://leadershipadvantage.co/2012/12/19/are-you-at-cause-or-effect/
enjoy and be blessed