Willful blindness is a legal term that means there is
information you could and should know but have elected not to know. Deliberate
indifference and contrived ignorance also are used to describe the phenomenon.
Unfortunately, there is a great deal of willful blindness in the world today.
Willful blindness causes the downfall of an organization’s leadership and
culture. Here are some examples of willful blindness:
- Banks approving mortgages for people they know cannot afford them long-term;
- Hospitals scheduling medical interns to work 24-hour shifts when they know the safety problems caused by a lack of sleep;
- The Catholic Church ignoring the child abuse that occurred under its proverbial roof for decades; and
- The Enron and Arthur Andersen scandals.
Each of those examples occurred because at least one
person turned a blind eye. In many instances, the consequences are catastrophic
when many people turn a blind eye, especially in the workplace.
Scared silent?
Multiple studies show that 85 percent of employees in
companies all over the world respond “yes” when asked questions like “Are there
issues in the workplace that people are afraid to bring up?” Why do 85 percent
of employees respond yes to that question? That is an awful lot of silence! You
can’t fix what you refuse to acknowledge.
Willful blindness can hurt companies in a variety of
areas—for example, productivity, safety, innovation, and ethics. We see it in
our workplaces every day. Executives decide not to survey their employees because
they are going through a challenging time and are afraid of what they will find
or they decide to conduct a survey and the results are not positive. As a
result, executives put the surveys in a drawer and hide them, hoping no one
will ever know about them, even though employees already know what the
company’s culture is like.
Willful blindness is the employee who works at a hospital
and doesn’t speak up regarding an issue even though he knows it’s related to
patient safety. It’s the organization that has an accountant who has clearly
manipulated payroll to avoid taxes and is now being garnished by the IRS yet
still allows her to keep her job. It’s the executive who keeps a salesperson
solely because she brings in money even though she is difficult, destroys
teamwork, and breaks cultural mores.
Although we have whistleblower laws in place to protect
employees and give them the freedom to speak up, legislation, rules, and
standards won’t solve the problem. The only way to remove willful blindness
from the workplace is through culture, leadership, and a strong hiring and
selection process.
Culture cure
Your culture has to create transparency and reduce fear
in the workplace. Leaders must support that culture by holding employees
accountable in a firm and fair way without berating them or being ugly,
difficult, or obstinate. Leaders must learn from mistakes. Cultures and leaders
must reward employees for speaking clearly, frankly, and professionally. Pay
special attention to employees you bring into your company. Are they supportive
of your culture? Will they continue to improve your culture? Will they
strengthen or hinder your culture?
Here are some key steps to remove willful blindness:
- Focus on creating self-awareness through feedback tools and programs.
- Use data to make decisions.
- Create an environment where people are encouraged to play devil’s advocate.
- Use benchmarks to determine whether employees are able to tell the truth or whether they are suffering from burnout and help identify problem areas in your workplace.
Use external resources to help you see your blind spots
and encourage you to remove tunnel vision.
Source: HR
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