Stop This Management Mistake
Key Takeaways
David Burkus discusses a common management mistake and how to avoid it
Full Transcript
Sign number three, criticism has suddenly spiked. There's a phenomenon among managers and employees called the set up to fail syndrome. The employee makes a mistake, maybe it's a one-off, maybe it's a pattern, and so the manager decides "I need to manage this person a bit more closely. I need to be more clear about expectations. I need to give more constructive criticism." And that triggers nervousness, defensiveness, and leaves the employee more prone to making even more mistakes, which of course just confirms the manager's suspicion that this is a problem employee who needs to be managed more closely. And again, and again, it goes.
Original Description
Increased criticism and closer oversight don't fix struggling employees — they often make things worse.
The setup to fail syndrome explains why: the more closely you manage someone, the more nervous and defensive they become, which leads to more mistakes, which confirms your suspicion that they need even more managing.
Understanding this loop is the first step to breaking it.
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// ABOUT DAVID
One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David’s forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are changing how companies approach leadership, teamwork, and collaboration.
A skilled researcher and inspiring communicator, Dr. David Burkus is the bestselling author of five books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. Since 2017, David has been ranked multiple times as one of the world’s top business thought leaders. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS Mornings.
A former business school professor, David now works with leaders from organizations across all industries, including PepsiCo, Fidelity, Adobe, and NASA. David’s keynotes aren’t just entertaining and enlightening—they’re evidence-based and immensely practical, offering leaders at all levels a set of actionable takeaways they can implement immediately.
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