Fear and Hunger in Organizations

In a previous article, I articulated the concepts of 'survival instinct, fear of death, and the fear of being unable to eat,' and in this piece, I will delve deeper into these aspects.

What is fear in an organization?

We feel fear when we are in physical danger.
By feeling fear toward dangerous things, we have become able to avoid danger and survive.

When employees think about what 'fear in an organization' is, they might list fears coming from the outside, such as:
・Pressure from supervisor evaluations
・Pressure to achieve target numbers
・Pressure to meet customer demands
and so on.

Furthermore, for business owners, examples of external fears include:
・The fear of being unable to manage funds
・The fear of employees leaving
and so on.

These fears are the fear of being unable to meet the demands of others who evaluate you (supervisors, numbers, customers, banks, employees), and the associated fear of facing economic death (pay cuts, firing, bankruptcy).

Fear felt by some people

On the other hand, I sometimes feel that high performers are driven by a fear that comes from within themselves.
It is an intense obsession with a lack of progress toward the goals and objectives they have set for themselves, like a sense of hunger or craving.

These fears are the fear of being unable to meet one's own demands, where the 'other' is internalized within the self, a fear that comes from within oneself.

External fears are no longer functioning

• Recent employees do not feel fear when their supervisor's evaluation drops.

• It is archaic for a supervisor to control subordinates through the fear of evaluation.

• Now that we live in an affluent era, fear caused by penalties such as pay cuts or demotions is becoming harder to function within an organization, and such cases are increasingly being rejected by society.

I have been hearing these voices more often.

Amidst the changes of the times, the fear that others impose from the outside may be becoming less effective for us.

On the other hand, things like hunger and craving—fears that arise from within oneself based on past experiences—can appear to function as a centripetal force for an organization in today's world where information flows widely and sociality exists.

• I want to change this unfortunate world.

• It is strange that such things are allowed in this world.

• Such ideas should be eliminated from the world.

At first glance, these may appear to be 'hope' for the future, but in reality, they can become a form of fear (hunger or craving) that contains hope, exerting a powerful influence within an individual.

Connecting organizations and individuals

If those who manage organizations cannot move people using fear imposed from the outside, is it not possible to guide the organization in a certain direction by using the hunger or craving that comes from within the individual?

Fear that comes from within begins when an individual recognizes a void.

A company's purpose and philosophy are the reasons for its existence and a declaration to fill a void in society.

Connecting the sense of void that an organization seeks to fill with the sense of void held by an individual through meaning-making may be what is required to drive organizations and employees not from the outside, but from within.

I believe one methodology is to establish a framework separate from the dialogue of progress management for organizational goals, where the organization's purpose and the individual's experience are given meaning through introspective dialogue.