Many CIOs operate within a culture of fear

Many IT leaders say they work in organizations that operate with a culture of blame, making it difficult to admit mistakes and then learn from errors.

Forty percent of IT leaders specifically overseeing software development at their organizations say they fear acknowledging their mistakes, according to a recent report by digital transformation provider Adaptavist.

The survey results came as no surprise to several CIOs and other IT leaders, with some describing past jobs in fear-based environments, and others saying they know of colleagues in similar situations.

Fear of admitting mistakes is a consistent theme within circles of CIOs, says Josh Hamit, SVP and CIO at Altra Federal Credit Union. It’s not uncommon for organizations to put on a pretense of promoting innovation and accepting failure as a necessary part of experimentation but ultimately don’t practice what they preach.

“Many of those same organizations are excessively and evenly publicly critical of failure, to the point that it extinguishes creativity,” Hamit adds. “People within those organizations are subjected to a culture undertone that instills fear of failure, and in turn, those same individuals are highly reluctant to put their reputations on the line.”

Beyond the worry of admitting mistakes, more than four in 10 of the IT leaders surveyed for the Adaptavist report say a lack of psychological safety is hindering innovation in their organizations. A similar percentage say a fear of admitting mistakes among employees compromises their internal cybersecurity.

A lack of trust from leadership

The culture of fear often stems from a few roots, including a lack of accountability from employees who don’t understand their roles, and mistrust of coworkers and management, says Alex Yarotsky, CTO at Hubstaff, vendor of a time tracking and workforce management tool. In both cases, company leadership is to blame.

Good leaders create a positive culture laid out in a set of rules and guidelines for employees to follow, and then model those actions themselves, Yarotsky says.

“Any case of misunderstanding or miscommunication is always on the management because the management is the force in the company that sets the rules and drives the culture,” he adds. “It’s a key responsibility to ensure healthy culture and ownership, and clear accountability.”

A culture of fear is also linked to a relentless business environment, common in the IT industry, Yarotsky says. “When you use this fast pace for a long time, stress builds up, and the leadership team can become especially reactionary to bad news,” he says. “Eventually, a few incorrect words said in the wrong moment can create a precedent.”

Such a culture often starts at the top, says Jack Allen, CEO and chief Salesforce architect at ITequality, a Salesforce consulting firm. Allen experienced this scenario in the early days of building a career, suggesting the problems may be bigger than the survey respondents indicate.

“If the leader is unwilling to admit mistakes or punishes mistakes in an unfair way, then the next layer of leadership will be afraid to admit mistakes as well,” Allen says. “In my experience, even when I confronted my manager with sound evidence, I was still told I was wrong, so, over time, I learned not to try to explain myself.”

This behavior has been prevalent in recent years, with commonplace layoffs, adds Jon Mort, Adaptavist’s CTO. “There’s still a real underlying fear of looking bad, and then there’s a response within the organization to single out those who make mistakes and say, ‘They screwed up,’” he says. “I don’t want that to be me.”

The value of mistakes

Cultivating a culture of fear leads to several problems, including an inability to learn from mistakes, Mort says. “Organizations that do the best are those that value learning and highlight incidents as valuable learning events,” he says.

When 44% of IT leaders who responded to the survey acknowledge a lack of psychological safety at their organizations, employees are clearly wary to speak their minds in fear of being criticized, Mort says. It also suggests these organizations prioritize speed over quality, he adds, because employees are unlikely to point out mistakes and initiate internal reviews that aim to fix problems.

 “When a critical IT issue can disable an entire company, it’s an occupational hazard to avoid admitting mistakes,” says Allen. “And if nobody’s willing to admit them, major problems get translated live when they could’ve been easily avoided.”

Combatting fear

When a culture of blame is such a problem, CIOs may wonder how they can fix it. Many IT leaders suggest that a CIO alone can’t fix the problem if it’s pervasive across the organization, but Mort and Yarotsky advise IT leaders to start in their respective houses.

“To really shift an organization requires change from the top and change from those who have the most influence throughout the organization,” Mort says. “It probably requires those leaders to stick their hands up and show by example, and then detail the consequences.”

If the fearful culture comes from above, then CIOs should also take responsibility for their teams’ mistakes, Mort says. This approach shields IT workers from toxic leadership.

Companies need to create cultures where failure is welcomed as a learning experience, Yarotsky adds. IT leaders should encourage open discussions about the risks they’re taking and the potential rewards or downsides.

“As CTO, I’ll openly discuss areas where I could’ve done a better job,” he says. “Showing this vulnerability allows others to do the same.”

IT leaders can also play a role in guiding other executives toward a less toxic management style, although it’s a delicate conversation and process, says Altra’s Hamit. CIOs shouldn’t point fingers at CEOs or other executives but instead use a collaborative approach, he advises.

“Look at it as a mutual opportunity to say, ‘Help me understand what I can do differently to help you,’” he says. “You can also say, ‘I’m here to help you be successful.’”

IT leaders can drive major changes in an organization if they take the right approach, he adds. “Try to make it about wanting these projects to succeed,” he says, “but having to work together.”