The Danger of Learned Helplessness
Jul 31st, 2008 by admin
Martin Seligman at the age of 13 witnessed his father being carried out of the house on a stretcher. His father, a lawyer at the pinnacle of his career, had been hit by a series of strokes and became physically and emotionally helpless for the rest of his life.
That event triggered Seligman’s life-long quest to help others overcome the debilitating effects of emotional helplessness. He became a brilliant psychologist and author of the national bestseller, Learned Optimism – How to Change Your Mind and Your Life.
While still in graduate school, Seligman discovered how an intelligent animal like a dog could unintentionally learn to be helpless. The dogs were momentarily subjected to a series of mild shocks from which they could not escape. Later the dogs were placed in an open cage with a low barrier that could be easily jumped over. When shocked again, the dogs just laid there and whimpered. They had learned to be pathetically and utterly helpless, even when escape was easy.
Using loud noises, the same results were experienced again, but this time with humans. Once exposed to inescapable noise in the first test, they just stopped trying in the second test even though the time and place of the experiment had changed. They too had learned to be pathetically helpless.
I was reminded of Seligman’s work when I saw another survey about the state of the American workplace environment. This one, a survey done for CareerBuilder.com by Harris Interactive reports that some 78% of American workers say they feel burned out.
Harris did another massive survey several years ago in which they reported that some 73% of employees said they didn’t know what their organizations were trying to accomplish or that they didn’t trust their organization. You’ll find similar reports from Franklin-Covey and Mercer.
So what’s going on? A number of well known leadership training companies and management consultants seem to be suggesting that it’s “poor management” and “inept leadership”. They could be right, but I have to say that I am more than a little skeptical about the conclusions being drawn.
For anyone who is buying into the “it’s bad management” theory, I suggest that you look at the findings a little closer and ask yourself, “If I had these feelings or thoughts about my boss and company, what would I do?”
For example, if you didn’t know what your company was trying to accomplish, wouldn’t you just ask and keep asking until you found out? If you weren’t getting regular feedback, wouldn’t you ask until you got it? If you didn’t feel like you were contributing to the company’s most important goals, wouldn’t you choose to do so? And if none of that worked, wouldn’t you find a place were you could make a difference?
Ok, I know there are plenty of poor managers and inept leaders out there. In fact anyone who has ever managed or led people has had a bad day or two…and probably more. I know I’ve made more than my fair share of boneheaded management blunders. I’ve also benefited greatly from the trainers, consultants and coaches I hired to set me straight. So I’m offering no excuses for poor management, nor am I questioning the intent of these good professionals who are trying to help all of us “inept leaders.”
What I do question (no that’s not the word)…what I violently object to (that feels better) is the nurturing of a victim mentality in the workplace. Go on line and search for a “Are you burned out?” survey. There are lots of them. They all ask questions about being disillusioned, sensing a lack of support, unending work, a lack of appreciation, and feeling powerless.
It’s the last one – the sense of powerlessness - that is the most destructive. It’s the false belief that one does not have the power to challenge the status quo. I believe that is what is sucking the spirit out of the workplace. Bad management alone can’t do that.
It takes an entire organization – bosses and employees - who have fooled themselves into thinking that they are powerless to change their environment. After a while, they just stop trying, and become utterly and pathetically helpless to take even the most obvious course of action, just like rats in a psychology experiment.
