How Fear and Control Hurt Businesses
Why is our first reaction to reach for the lawyers?
If you haven’t heard, the Apple / Google wars heat up. Both of these companies are poised to become huge players in the emerging “super phone” market. Which means that billions, if not trillions, of dollars are at stake. This is why Apple’s lobbing of legal grenades is so important. With filings targeted at Google’s phones (specifically the HTC models), Apple is saying they won’t take iPhone encroachment lightly.
This isn’t new.
Apple and Microsoft used to be at war. Google and Microsoft used to be at war. Microsoft and Sony are still at war. Every major company seems to go to war with its competitors.
Of course the people who get hurt in these wars are you and I, the consumers.
So why do it?
Because companies are afraid. They are afraid of the economy. Of losing market share. Of not making money. And when we are afraid, we demand more control. This is especially true when we are the “big player” in the conversation.
Apple is no longer the underdog. They are what Microsoft was in the 1990’s: the dominant market player.
But this isn’t a knock on Steve Jobs (Apple CEO). We all fight the temptation to power up out of fear. When something is uncertain we try and grab a hold of as much as we can. We figure the more we can control, the better we will be. When your kids start acting out what do you do? You put them in time out or ground them from TV. When new technology is introduced into the workplace, how do companies respond? By banning employees from using Facebook or locking down the internet.
But what if that’s the wrong strategy? What if the way to unleash your real potential – the way to get out of trouble – is to let people have the freedom to do what they do best? What if instead of micromanaging we allowed our employees to innovate? What if instead of trying to manipulate the market we just own up to a bad product and redouble our efforts to build a better product?
Of course that takes work. And there isn’t an immediate satisfaction of “getting even.”
The best and brightest don’t want to live in a climate of fear and control. Microsoft discovered that in the 90’s as a lot of the best and brightest left and went to work for Google and Apple. You know who stays behind in a climate of fear and control? The people who can’t find jobs elsewhere.
So the next time you find yourself wanting to power up, ask yourself, am I seeking control or my own destruction?
photo provided by flickr
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About Eric Barrett
Eric Barrett is an organizational consultant who specializes in applying psychology to communication. He has worked as an organizational psychologist for over a decade, and is most recently working on developing social media guidelines for a real estate company. He also teaches psychology at Xavier University. In his spare time he...wait, who are we kidding...he has no spare time.
He is available on a limited basis for speaking engagements and consulting projects. For more information please see the About Meaning to Work page.
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