| 4 | When Fear Prevents Acting on Knowledge |
IN ORGANIZATION AFTER ORGANIZATION that failed to translate knowledge into action, we saw a pervasive atmosphere of fear and distrust. We came to appreciate the wisdom of quality guru W. E. Deming’s prescription for success: Drive out fear.1 Unfortunately, there is some skepticism that fear and its first cousin, distrust, remain pervasive problems in today’s supposedly enlightened workplaces. There are also still many people, including stock analysts and business reporters, who admire “tough,” “hard-nosed,” or even mean-spirited bosses. We have never met anyone who actually wants to work for one of these people. But the stories that Fortune magazine occasionally runs on the “toughest bosses” suggest ...
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