How helpless is your organization?

Organizations suffering from “learned helplessness” are in a state of immobility. They seem to be unable to get into action and change the situation they are in. And this is not helping them in difficult situations such as the current economic downturn. Big and well known corporations that seem to have passed the test of time can fall in this situation leading them to bankruptcy. The last year we saw big names, like Lehman Brother go under. The more you recognise the symptoms causing this “learned helplessness”, the better it can be cured. And simple interventions can have a huge impact.

“Learned Helplessness” was defined by Martin Seligman, an American psychologist and founder of positive psychology movement.

It is a psychological state where people feel powerless to change their self or situation. This primarily caused when people attribute negative things in life to internal, stable and global factors. Essentially, it means that persons feel as if change is not possible, since there is a pervasive and unchangeable personal problem.

 “We like this training very much but, things will never change over here.” How many times did I hear this one-liner that kills it all, when helping teams on teambuilding interventions? And I have a hard time not feeling depressed when hearing that.

Burn out is common by IT employees who staff IT helpdesks. The simple fact that there is a helpdesk just one call away, make employees helpless for all their computer worries. They would call even the helpdesk for turning on the computer in the morning, you never know…

Leadership coaching, teambuilding or even creativity training make no sense when indeed people need to return to a system that puts them in this learned helplessness. As Trevor Cook writes in his blog:

“Bringing out Americans to teach you to be optimistic won’t matter a jot if your work situation is crap and if you can’t change it and you’re stuck there for life. That’s enough to depress anyone and no amount of fancy psychologising is going to change that.”

Trevor Cook’s Blog

The system needs to change. This change needs to be done by the people that can change the system. But therefore they need to understand what could make the systems helpless.

In extreme cases helplessness can lead to suicide. France Telecom knows already 28 suicides cases since February this year with major reason “the bad work situation”. It is sure that behavioural training will not work to solve this.

The main reasons for helplessness are:

Attribution style

What is the attribution style in the organization? Internal blaming is seen as one of the reasons for learned helplessness. “It’s me.” How much blaming is been done. Deficit language is negative for the morale and could be very threatening. Is there a “half empty bottle” communication or a “half full bottle” communication practised? Every reality can be seen from a negative or a positive stance. How does your organization does look upon reality?

Perception of control and predictability of the future

It is also called “global distortion.” “It will affect everything I do.” How do co-workers perceive having control over the changes that happen to them. Is there a top down directive style of communication in the organization? Or is communication based on consensus where co-workers are really heard? What is done with feedback coming from the work floor? Do co-workers see real change happening when they advise? And if nothing is done with their advice, is that then also communicated to them?

Stability generalization

“It will last forever.” Co-workers see changes as undetermined in time.  They loose completely track of right perspectives. And a small move of the office becomes a major upset. Even a new telephone system can lead people in depression and make them going on sick leave.

Motivational climate

How are co-workers motivated? What happens when people make mistakes? Am I allowed to ask for help when I encounter difficulties in my job or career? Is there help organized by the Learning and Development Department? What is the learning culture in your organization? Do you learn continually or is learning inhibited? Is coaching offered to repair weaknesses or to develop strenghts?

Answers to the problem lie in the positive psychology.

Positive psychology is a movement started by people like Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Erich From. It studies the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. More recently researchers like Martin Seligman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi have done work in that field.

Positive psychology focuses around Positive experiences and positive future. More recent approaches can be found in Appreciative Inquiry and Solution Focussed Coaching.

Positive Experiences

Mindfulness

This approach is a mix of western and eastern knowledge. It is defined as actively searching for novelty. It is characterised as non-judging, non-striving, and accepting.  Its benefits include reduction of stress, anxiety, depression and chronic pain.

People accepting changes are more willing to move forward to the change. But it needs facilitation and communication to help everybody through the change cycle. Mindfulness training can be a good help in this. But Meditation and other eastern practices are still seen as odd in our western organisations. In China and Japan it is not uncommon to see groups practice Tai chi or other meditative practices together on the work floor. People that are “well-centred” can coop better with external stressful contexts.

Flow

Flow as defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is a state of absorption in one’s work characterised by intense concentration, loss of self awareness, a feeling of control, and a sense of “time is flying”. Flow is an intrinsically rewarding experience and it can also help one achieve a goal or improve skills.

How many of you experience flow at work? And what can you do in your current work environment in order to make flow happen? In our Western organizations there is not much focus on the fact whether employees are having fun in what they do and whether they experience a state of flow. And yet motivation and employee engagement are main issues in organizations.

Positive futures

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is one’s belief in one’s ability to accomplish a task by one’s own efforts. High self-efficacy has positive effects on one’s general well being and also the physical well being.

In what extend can your co-workers find themselves the answers to their problems? Is it worth changing the IT help line in an on-line problem solving system?  Why not organize an intranet forum system where co-workers can help each other on their IT problems.

Does your organization stimulates self-efficacy or does it take away the self efficacy of your co-workers? Are employees listened at when they come with solutions for their problems? My experience is that employees are best placed to solve their work related problems. Are they empowered to do so?

Learned optimism

Learned optimism is the habit of attributing one’s failures to causes that are external (not personal), variable (not permanent), and specific (limited to a specific situation). This explanatory style is associated with better performances, greater satisfaction in interpersonal relationships, better coping and less vulnerability to depression.

One big example of this is the model of Timothy Galloway, The inner game of tennis. In his coaching he helps tennis players to focus on the ball and the racket. This helps them to exclude their inner dialogue that undermines their performances. What is the inner dialogue of your organization?

Hope

Hope is a learned style of goal-directed thinking in which the person utilizes both pathways thinking (the perceived capacity to find routes to desired goals) and agency thinking (the requisite motivations to use those routes).

The best examples where this is practised is in Appreciative Inquiry and Solution Focussed Coaching. The simpliest form is done with the “Wonder question”. How would you dream your ideal workenvironment?

We helped many groups and teams from a so called “learned helplessness” to a “learned optimism”. It does not take long and the effects are enormous. And it helps organizations to move through difficult moments of change.

Some questions to summarize our thinking:

How much fun do you experience in your workplace?

How many times a day do you experience “flow” when doing your job?

How proud are you to be part of your organization?

How do you cope with failures?

How free are you to try out something different?

How would you describe your ideal worksituation?

Good luck

What have survival skills in common with corporate performance?

Flickr.com, CCL, uh...bob

In the article “How to Survive A Disaster”, Amanda Riley describes in nice examples how little things can change you life in life threathening moments.

How to Survive a Disaster

Some learning’s from these stories are also meaningful for corporations improving their performance. Often little things can mean a world of a difference. Mostly those things are counter intuitive. And that’s why they seem obvious but Oh, so difficult to implement.

1. Prepare a plan

Experience shows that effective rescue plans are counter intuitive. A plan will help you to act against your intuition. The best plans are made without stress, when things are obvious and logical. It also gives you time to test your plan. You can call in outside advice to improve your plan. Knowledge is somewhere out there. Have also a plan B. When you are used with the practice of drafting plans, this skill will help you to adapt the plan when needed.

Therefore “scenario planning” is essential for organizations. And it needs to be a continuous process. It is best done when there is no need and everything seems to go well.

2. Build teams

Teams work best when there is a minimum of linking between the members. This will support team members to help each other. In mountaineering my fellow climber stands for my survival. The more I help him, the more I will be helped when needed. Team cohesion is essential for survival.

Organizations depend on their teams and networks. Teams become more global and virtual. Team members hardly ever meet in a world of travel restrictions. In this context it is therefore more difficult to achieve this cohesion. And yet, it is only in a face to face encounter that those connections are made. Teambuilding needs time and a place.

3. Define and attribute roles

The fact that all team members are skilled “first aid helpers” and carry their title, will engage them in helping. It is impressive what just roles do with people. People will tend to act to their roles.

In matrix organizations people have more and different roles. We called it “role inflation”. Roles and responsibilities are diluted. Simple and clear roles help clarity. These roles can change as long as this is communicated and clear for everybody. A simple label with your role can already do miracles. At rock festivals the security people have SECURITY clearly on their hats and T-shirts’. No discussion.

4. Organize Leadership

Not everybody can lead. Leadership does not always need to be the same person. It is a role. And the person in the role needs to know what is expected from him/her in that role. This can be planned, trained and tested. The clearer the roles and leadership the more efficient the team becomes. This is not rocket science, but the price is high when leadership fails.

Leadership can be trained. Some people have more potential than others to take on a leadership role. However, I would prefer a trained leader to a high potential yet untrained leader. What is hidden potential without training and coaching? When we work with teams, we are sometimes surprised to see some people develop into great leaders when the conditions are right.

5. Train, train and train

It sounds boring. But repetition helps us to react without thinking. Specific connections are built in our brain that will engage when we need them. It seems that the body remembers and the brain is shortcut. An example is the musician who plays without thinking.

Training is about skills. Skills improve with repetition. There is no way around it. However it is important that the most effective skills are trained and reinforced. It has absolutely no use to be very efficient in doing the wrong things. Therefore is the planning so important.

6. Focus on the positive

But above everything that is mentioned there needs to be a “will to survive”. When this will to survive is not there, any plan nor skill will help you. A way to build this will to survive is by envisioning a positive outcome. One of the strongest ways to build teams is to let them work with the ideal situation. By focussing on the little positive gains, we are able to coop with the most devastating situations.

It sounds easy and in practice it is also very easy to focus the team on the positive. I think this is the easiest and the most effective intervention that can be done with immediate effect. Also this is a skill that can be learned.

Some simple questions can help you to do a health check:

· Do we have a plan?

· Did we test our plan?

· Do we have an alternative plan?

· Does everybody know his role?

· Is everybody trained for is role?

· Is it clear who will lead when?

· Are the leaders trained to take the lead?

· Did we train our plan?

· What would be the ideal outcome?

· What goes well?

These simple questions can already mean a lifetime differences to teams and organizations. In times of world financial and economic crisis, I think we need to go back to the basics and as us these little questions.