The fear of negative evaluation can cripple your organization
Atychiphobia is a sign of a low-trust environment
I used to be embarrassed to ask for an explanation when I didn’t understand someone’s request. I thought I should know the answer, that it was expected of me, as a professional in the topic. I was afraid people would judge me because of my ignorance. I would even consider acting if I knew exactly what this person meant. I had a fear of negative evaluation, also known as atychiphobia.
Atychiphobia is widespread in many organizations. A failure to recognize it can have disastrous consequences. Today. I will discuss how detrimental the fear of negative evaluation can be, how to recognize it and how to reduce its negative impact.
The fear of negative evaluation - The impact
The fear of negative evaluation can have a huge impact on people’s effectiveness. If this is a common issue within an organization, it can be severely crippling.
I have witnessed how managers were instructed to introduce an Agile way of working without getting any further explanation. This was a few years ago, so Agile was a widely known phenomenon.
What I noticed was that these managers thought they should know what Agile is about and how they should transform the organization. They felt too embarrassed to ask questions like “What do you mean with Agile?” and “How do we know we are successful?”
The managers decided to implement both Scrum and the number 1 Agile management tool. They believed it was a matter of training some of their people to be Scrum Master and Product Owner and to set up the tool. Because of their ignorance, they didn’t invest in a learning culture or in guiding their people through the journey.
They failed. The teams didn’t know how Scrum would benefit them, the tool was too rigid and they distrusted their management. It would take years for the organization to overcome this trauma.
From the talks I had with these managers, it became clear to me they feared to admit to their dominant manager they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t want to be put in a negative light and face the consequences of their “ignorance”. The entire organization had to pay the price for their fear of negative evaluation.
The fear of negative evaluation - When it thrives
The fear of negative evaluation is a phenomenon that differs from person to person. Some people are more conflict-avoiding than others. That said, external factors play a huge role too.
Atychiphobia thrives when there’s a lack of trust. When people don’t trust they can safely voice their opinion with the risk of being wrong. When they are reluctant to try something new because they fear negative evaluation.
Another element that contributes to atychiphobia is a lack of a learning culture. When people have a misunderstanding they need to know things, for instance, because it is part of their function.
Then there’s the false notion of HIPPO (the highest-paid person’s opinion). Even the flattest of organizations, with few or even no management layers, have people with more influence due to their job titles and salaries. But even the highest-paid person isn’t always right. Still, the reality is that the fear of negative evaluation increases with a strong HIPPO.
The HIPPO is strongly related to the impact of a hierarchy culture which values order, silos and rules. Hence, you can expect the fear of negative evaluation to flourish there as well.
The fear of negative evaluation - Indicators
To identify how strong the fear of negative evaluation is, here are some pointers:
No one is asking questions, even though the request or the topic isn’t that clear - asking questions may show you don’t understand.
No one says they don’t understand the topic or the request - people think admitting they don’t know makes them look unprofessional.
No one decides to bring counterarguments or objections - they fear being proven wrong.
People create smoke screens to give the impression they know what is said - they create the impression they understand and are on board.
People are agreeing with a proposal suspiciously quickly - this is the perfect way to avoid negative evaluation, simply agreeing.
People jump into execution mode quickly, without investigating what they need to do - showing you are working on it creates a good impression.
The fear of negative evaluation - How to help resolve the impact
Here are some ways I found helpful in removing or reducing the fear of negative evaluation:
As a leader, show you don’t know everything and you need the input of others.
As a leader, work on building an environment of trust. Go first in showing vulnerability.
As a leader, don’t expect people to automatically understand what you mean and ask for feedback.
As a leader, express the importance of learning along the way.
Everyone, ensure you align on the topic, for example through a workshop.
Receivers of the message, show courage and admit what you don’t know yet. Just think of the *** hitting the fan when you are months into the wrong journey.
Do you recognize this phenomenon of fear of negative evaluation? Has it impacted your team? Do you have great tips to help overcome this? Please let me know in the comments!
As an individual: Evaluate whether you want to stay in such an environment. What will it do to your career if learning is not a priority at the workplace? How much can you accept a culture where you are not allowed to admit you don't know? How healthy is this for you on the long run?
This is the prime reason (variable) for failure imo also know as psychological safety. psychological safety is like taking my foot off the brake so I can put it on the accelerator. Psychological safety in my ecosystem at the group level breeds trusted relationships quality thinking, quality actions and quality results. Quality results breeds more trust and success. success breeds success. It's the very opposite of psychological unsafely, negativity which is guaranteed to kill programmes.