1. The Comfortable Virus (COMFY-23)
In his book, Jim Collins famously asserted that Good is the enemy of Great. Many companies who have been the leadersin their segment or are doing well financially believe they have immunity to this virus. This is erroneous and potentially fatal. An injection of energy is required. Market observations show they still show signs of COMFY-23 and can be carriers infecting others in their community. It is not Good but “Comfortable,” which is the Enemy of Great. This malady afflicts companies at all stages of their performance.
Symptoms
- Apathy, lack of employee engagement
- Resistance to change often bordering on paranoia
- PITS—Post Initiative Shock Syndrome—headaches and nausea following a previous change – particularly intense if it involved a workforce reduction.
2. Firefighters Fever
Often, organizations experience the same problems over and over, and significant resources – individuals and teams – are often devoted to trivial triage. They treat the symptoms of the problem, but lack the depth and rigor to address the root cause.
Symptoms
- Hyperactivity
- High blood pressure
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Myopia
- Silo thinking
- Condition is exacerbated by the Hero Complex- teams and individuals seek and receive praise for putting out fires which fuels their passion to find the next fire.
3. Meeting Measles
Spreading at Zoom speeds, this disease is the most contagious and can severely affect productivity throughout an organization.
Symptoms
- Lack of accountability
- Actions and accountabilities diffused by group think
- Constant hand washing
- Human contact is avoided
- Feelings of Déjà vu – “didn’t we discuss this already?”
- Sense of loss, particularly of time.
4. Tribalism
Certain members of the organizational tribe cultivate exceptional skills. These skills tend to stay in pockets of excellence as this knowledge is either an unconscious competence or an individual feels sharing it will diminish their value and self-worth.
Symptoms
- Bipolar responses to this condition
- Confidence and mastery may manifest in defiance of organizational norms
- Levels of frustration with others who cannot perform at the same level
5. Barking Cough
A leadership style that employs barking orders rather than developing and coaching employees, Barking Cough is extremely nasty at the first line supervisory level.
Symptoms
- Feelings of disenfranchisement
- Lack of trust
- A chronic condition may lead to lethargy, erratic absences from work, and eventually detachment and resignation
