THe forces acting upon us…
As leaders, we navigate pressurised environments, for the benefit of our organisation, our people, yet we also do so for our careers and ability to continue to influence positive change.
When we see large scandals in the news, such as the recent "Robo-debt" scandal currently occurring in the Australian Public Service, its easy to cast blame on individuals. This post is not to say whether that is warranted or not. This post encourages you to ask, '𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞?'
Seeking to understand the 'how' behind leaders who acted in ways that they knew to be unskillful, (perhaps even illegal), we must note the many 'levers' that are at play.
In the 1960's Yale psychologist Stanely Milgram conducted experiments looking at a force that caused people to do things that they knew to be wrong. That force was the pressure of self-protection and acquiescence toward the desires of those they perceived held positional power over them.
In the experiment, participants believed they were not the ones being studied, but a man (an actor) in another room who was administered a series of electric shocks to 'study' how this impacted his ability to remember correct answers. The shocks, the participants believed, went from mild to lethal. In fact they were all mild, but the participants did not know this. The actor consistently played the part of getting questions wrong, and the participants were told, calmly, by the 'lab supervisor' to up the voltage and administer higher and higher shocks. The actor in the other room screamed and acted accordingly to what the participant thought the voltage was that they were administering.
The question for you is this, '𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬?'
If you think it was a low percentage, that only a few people would do something they believed was wrong (in this case kill an old man) because of the pressures of authority... your belief was in line with what Milligram thought would occur. He believed only about 3% of people would progress to administering lethal shocks.
If you, like him, believed this, you are sadly wrong. The percentage of people, who under pressures from authority to do WRONG, consented and actually did the act they believed was wrong, was about 66%.
When we are faced with incredible pressures (either real or perceived) to comply with the desires of those in 'authority', even the leaders of today can do things that they believe are wrong.
The final question is:
'how are you going to work to prevent this from happening to you? What are the practices of self-awareness and values directed action that you have to help you do the 'right thing' in the face of the pressures of authority?'
For more information, feel free to contact me, as I'd love to find how we can help you walk an Insightful Path.
