On Fear
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| Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash |
One aspect of the workshop stirred my attention, and it was the mention of fears in the context of goals vs fears.
Obviously anyone wants to achieve certain goals, so it makes sense to set
goals and to mention them in a workshop like this. However when setting goals
there are certain second-order effects or side-effects that we want to avoid,
minimise or eliminate entirely. Here are a few reasons why I found intriguing
(and valuable!) the explicit mention of fear.
Acknowledge fears when planning
Acknowledging fears and taking them into account into planning is a desirable
trait in any wise person who seeks to introduce change. Let's say we want to
roll out Scrum because of certain advantages that we hope to gain. As with any
change, this change too will have undesirable side-effects. For example new
meetings/ceremonies, perhaps some people do not like Scrum, a certain rigidity
dealing with urgent bugs or even incidents (it's not in the sprint! is
something I'm sure has been uttered before), etc.
So when introducing change we should not worry too much about the expected
positive outcomes which are likely to take care of themselves, and instead we
should invest on mitigating/removing/preventing the negative outcomes as these
might negate the positive, in part or even entirely.
Recognizing (and acting on) fears
It's said that middle-managers run the company, and to do that effectively
they need to very apt at reading between the lines and understand not only the
goals, but also (and perhaps more importantly!) the fears of both their reports and
manager.
Often (and perhaps for the wrong reasons) people do not speak about their
fears in clear terms, but instead choose to mask them behind vague statements
or jokes. Just like anybody can be a good employee when they have a good
manager, an exceptional employee can also understand (and act on) what's not
said explicitly.
Nobody gets fired for buying IBM
That B2B is predominantly fear-driven was a powerful revelation to me, and here's why:
- it is crucial for a salesperson to get into a B2B meeting with confidence into the product they're selling
- it is supremely necessary we understand the fears of the (potential) customer, especially if these are not addressed by the features or values of what we're selling
Psychological safety
Fear works against psychological safety (the group is safe for interpersonal risk taking). Which, in turn, negatively affects organizational performance.
Cooperation in Generative culture (Westrum)
Elaborating on the psychological safety, IMO cooperation in a generative culture can only occur if we actively recognise our and others fears. Cooperation is easy to "fake", with superficial attempts. Deep collaboration can only happen once we acknowledge the fear(s) of the group, stop trying to be right, and start being effective instead.
Conclusion
I wonder if risk storming is onto something bigger than just risk identification. Food for shower thoughts.