Preface

PART ONE The nature of fear and how it shapes organizations

01 The paradox of fear
The scope of this book
What instils fear in organizations?
Fear as a cultural norm
Fear in different organizations
And yet, some things don't change
The impact of the recession
Organizational diversity
Organizational styles
Psychological health at work
Managing and using fear
Re-humanizing the workplace

02 The cultural backdrop of fear
The backdrop of fear and uncertainty within the workplace
2007/8 and the cold winds of recession blew in
The economists' explanation
The widespread residue of fear in the workplace

03 Perspectives on fear
Exploring the boundaries of fear
Fear and the unexpected
The role of fear
The physiology of fear
Fear is contagious
The Hillsborough disaster
Distortion of fear
Super-humans
Using fear to our advantage
Fear in the workplace - and elsewhere

04 Cultures of fear within organizations
The long tail of the recession
Symptoms of fear in the workplace
How can we gauge fear?
The effects of fear on organizational life
The tendency to do what we have always done
Following the leader
Fear undermines performance
Workplace productivity at an all-time low
Studies on mental health in the workplace
Studies on workplace climate and trends
Gauging 'reality'
Fear as a management tool

05 Feeling fear at work
The hidden fear at work
Recognizing fear and mistrust in organizations
The growth of mistrust
Bullying at work
The complexities of whistle-blowing within an organizational context
When fear stimulates, energizes and motivates us
Differences in how people respond to fear in the workplace

06 Over-control and manipulation in the workplace
The power of control
Control and order
The Industrial Revolution
The Hawthorne experiments
The unintended consequences of target culture
Target culture within the UK police service
Personal judgement vs procedures
What role should targets play?
How did this situation come about?

07 Organizations in crisis
Organizations in transition
Clutching at old straws
Bringing in the consultants
Breaking the culture of fear
Leadership in uncertain times
Improvisation in leadership
Make time. Prepare your mind. Think creatively
Revolving CEOS
The 'stuck' organization
Greed and fear
Corporate psychopaths
The paradox of recruiting leaders
Promises of reform

PART TWO How we can harness fear to improve productivity and organizational health through promoting human values

08 Being human
The half-way house
What does it mean to be human?
The beginnings of humanistic psychology
Using all our brain power
Our evolutionary heritage
The effects of 'mechanized' language
Survival of the fittest vs cooperative behaviour
The relentless drive to mechanize brains
Developing attitudes, beliefs and habits
The importance of emotion in a work environment
Groupthink
In conclusion

09 Creating psychologically healthy workplaces
Creating healthier futures
Why organizational health matters
Engagement and return on investment
How return on investment can be measured and optimized
A western perspective on a Japanese workplace
Bhutan, work and well-being
The qualitative-quantitative divide
Fresh approaches to organizational life
Developing employee engagement and well-being
A time to think differently about organizations
From the broad to the focus

10 Leadership and appreciative inquiry
The emergence of positive psychology
Positive psychology in the workplace
Appreciative Inquiry (AI): a route towards in improving positive affect within organizations
The principles of appreciative inquiry
Appreciative inquiry in action
How to initiate an appreciative inquiry process
Does appreciative inquiry work?
The scope of appreciative inquiry
Appreciative inquiry feeds leadership

11 Developing resilience
Some are born with super-resilience
Resilience: The drive to keep going
Characteristics of resilient individuals
Building up resilience
A study of resilience in the nursing profession
Resilience at and individual, team and organizational level
The economic benefits of resilience
When resilience is thrust upon us

12 Building trust within organizations
The foundation of trust
Trust in the workplace
The human face of trust
Building trust in the workplace: the Continental story
Trust in action
Introducing a trust building programme within a mental health organization
How else can we build trust in organizations?

13 The power of language
The power of everyday conversation
Active listening
Two different brain systems - and two styles of communication
Dogs so it so well
The interpretation of language
Living in the moment - or not
Changing organizations through conversation
Non-verbal communication (NVC)
Language tools to aid understanding
The meaning of language, revealed through qualitative research
How talk transformed the East Coast mainline railway

14 Building a culture of innovation
Banishing fear of the unknown
Creating ideas
Thinking differently as a way of life
Innovation is what we are
The paradox of innovation
The concept of jugaad
Bring on the new
Why do birds fly in a V formation?
'We are family'
Cultural preparedness and reducing risk
Finding a voice
Innovation and shame
Innovation as a way of seeing things differently|
The improvisational nature of innovation
A model of marginal gain
Try, try and try again
Inspirational market research and creative development work
Developing an innovative organization

15 What about the future?
The age of transformation
Living in a brave new world
A human workforce
A fruity option
In the flow
Flow in action
In conclusion

Index