Fear-driven Behaviours Affect Decisions and that Affects Innovation and Digitalisation in Organisations

A recent informal chat with some industry mavens over tea and cakes centered around the reality of stakeholders, vendors, solutions, disappointment, payment power play, lack of support for high stakes tech implementation. All pointing to a blame culture and consequently a fear culture from the top cascading to mid management.

With the frenzied drive in most nations across the world to digitalised their economy, all the supporting casts including MSME, SME, Solopreneurs, etc are under pressure to do the same.

Smaller companies may have the upper hand, assuming the founder / owner does not have power grabbing mindset. They have less layers of approval and any fears would be discussed in a flat hierarchy. Decision making tends to be more efficient.

Bigger corporates, MNCs, Civil Service, NGOs, Trade Associations have more layered challenges. No one wants to be the person ‘who brought down’ the status quo and take the label for life as a ‘failure’. As such decisions are slower, hedged, and finally if top management is not in favour, the innovation project is buried.

Fear and shame are just as powerful levers in influencing decision making.