The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail
The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome, by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux, looks into the negative dynamics that unintentionally but unequivocally define far too many relationships between bosses and the people who report to them. More importantly, it also proposes ways to attack the problem where it exists and to keep it from occurring elsewhere. Manzoni and Barsoux, researchers at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, first addressed the issue in a 1998Harvard Business Reviewarticle examining how "bosses unwittingly set up some of their subordinates to fail and, more generally, mismanage many of the subordinates they regard as acceptable but lower-than-average performers." After discussing the various causes and effects of this behavior--including why responses from both sides tend to generate "an escalating spiral of malaise and underperformance"--the authors present assorted remedies (such as "the mental adjustments bosses must make before trying to interrupt" this conduct), a framework for interventions (with details, for example, on handling discussions between two parties whose rapport has deteriorated), and a litany of preventive measures (including specific suggestions for getting new relationships off to a positive start). Very well researched with solid, practical advice.--Howard Rothman