As a result of this column you and your organization will: Understand the three working cultures that exist in every organization. Enthusiastically support the only winning option. Create and sustain “ideal” anxiety levels. In a no-consequence culture, employees feel secure no matter how poorly they perform. People develop a belief that the company owes them something for nothing. To destroy a no-consequence culture or, conversely, to mobilize people who are overly frightened about losing their jobs, you need to introduce the right balance of risk and security. Two important findings from psychology explain this phenomenon. The Yerkes-Dodson Law, states that… Performance increases as anxiety levels rise. Performance reaches its peak when anxiety is at an ideal level. If anxiety is too high, however, performance declines.

The second finding is that the motive to achieve reaches its highest level when the probability of success is 50 percent. People are most motivated to pursue a goal or master a task when it’s a challenge or a stretch, yet there’s still a very good chance they will succeed.

A company’s employees can exist in one of three states.

In a state of “no-consequence,” the level of risk is too low and people take everything for granted. The result is that no matter how poorly they perform, they still feel security.

In a state of “fear,” which exists after frequent downsizings, the level of risk or anxiety is too high, and people can take nothing for granted. No matter how well they perform, they can’t feel security. This results in a paralyzed workforce.

In the middle, there is what’s termed as the state of “earning.” Here, the level of risk is midway, or 50 percent, and people are challenged enough to perform their best. They cannot take what they “earn” for granted, but the odds are good that they can achieve the security they seek. On the other hand, in the state of earning, they are not so overcome with fear that they can no longer function effectively.

“Earning” is the state of mind or attitude that everyone must have if the company is to prosper and the people in it are to flourish. It is the set of conditions under which people and organizations can succeed by being innovative and flexible, and by striving for results that really matter.

To lead people out of a no-consequence culture, you have to make sure that they understand that today’s economic reality contains constant threats. Everyone from top management to custodial personnel must realize that…

• Customers could leave.

• The business could fail.

• People could lose their jobs.

Once that realization takes hold, we must make the effort to convince employees who are fearful, that the best chance they have at earning security is by helping the company hit its critical targets. Without success, there will be no company, and there will be no jobs…. not for the CEO, the managers, the sales staff or production people…. no jobs.

The best driver for moving people into “earning” is to instill a sense of urgency that comes from being in touch with the market, including competitors and customers. When everyone knows that nothing can be taken for granted the attitude develops…we have to do this extremely well to attract and keep the business. If we are less than excellent, we’ll probably lose the customer.

Unless people are convinced there are urgent reasons for giving up old attitudes and behavior, they’ll resist new ways of doing things. When the company fails, everyone loses, but when it does well, everyone wins.

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