How organisations behave when they feel threatened
When an organisation feels under threat it all to often responds defensively, keen to protect its reputation/image it denies there is a problem, accepts there was a problem, claims others have exaggerated the problem, blames others for the problem, clams to have an action plan to address the problem. This usually takes the form of seven typical responses and one less common response.
Well they would say that wouldn’t they.
This is a common response from senior managers when receiving negative feedback from employees about a lack of trust and being out of touch. Dismissed as an understandable response to unpopular but necessary decisions and a failure to see the big picture.
I don’t think enough account has been taken of our special/unique circumstances
The authors of this report don’t understand just what a challenging environment we are working in due to the history of organisation/ local circumstances/ budget. The implication is a some what resigned there is a limit to what we can do. Prospects of improvement, poor.
The problems have been exaggerated
Of course there are problems, all organisations of this size and nature have these type of problems but they are no bigger or more severe than elsewhere. This is an organisation whose leadership is in denial and thus the prospect of real change is not good.
We don’t recognise this description of the organisation
You have listened to the wrong people, caught us on an off day, come across an isolated example. Senior management appears to be living in a parallel universe, the problems can’t exist because we don’t see them. Prospects for improvements poor.
We are surprised at the extent of the problem we had no idea it was this bad.
This is an admission of failure by senior management with out taking any responsibility. A clear case of lack of curiosity by senior management/board. Will they recognise their failure to ask the right questions? Or will they simply , “ feel let down “ by those they trusted.
Those responsible no longer work here
So that’s that dealt with then!
We have a detailed action plan to address each individual concerns raised in the review.
Ok but action plans are good at giving impression of doing something but not necessarily addressing the bigger picture, why did these problems happen and how does the organisation ensure they are not replaced by a new set of similar problems?
We got it wrong , we apologise ,we are putting it right
This response offers the best prospects for improvement as it acknowledges the problems , accepts responsibility and offers no excuses
Blair Mcpherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
