These days, in educational and organizational settings doing the ‘best I can do’ is perceived as ‘not good enough’. In order to survive, and thrive, I need to offer more than the best. I need to provide satisfaction with a money back guarantee. The tyranny of satisfaction reigns everywhere. We are frequently ‘outraged’ and ‘disgusted’ when services fail to meet their emphasis on customer satisfaction. Organisational members who exceed targets by 10 per cent this quarter are rarely cheered on and told to take it easy for the next quarter. Next quarter’s target has now been increased by 10 per cent, which becomes the new normal

Clancy, Annette

Irish Universities

The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisations

The fantasy of the all good, 24/7 available, target-busting firm is a recipe for disappointment, writes Annette Clanc

LSE Research Online

11/14/2016The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisationsblogs.lse.ac.uk /businessreview/2016/11/14/the-tyranny-of-satisfaction-reigns-in-organisations/Image by geralt, under a CC0 licenceThe Surviving Work in the UK series is produced by Surviving Work.I begin most of my lectures by telling students I intend to disappoint them. I tell them I look forward to the momentwhen they realise that I have failed to live up to their expectations of me. Their fantasy of me as the all-knowing, all-powerful leader who will teach them what they need to know despite their creative attempts to avoid the anxiety ofignorance and will grade them at precisely the right mark to ensure a worthy grade point average will be punctured.It’s just a matter of when. It’s at that point that we meet as real, frail, complicated, human entities struggling to learnsomething together.Inevitably that opening statement meets with some pushback. What do I mean I will disappoint? Surely it’s my job tobe an exemplary role model? They’ve paid a lot of money to be in my class and I have no right to lower theirexpectations!Towards the latter end of my career as an organizational consultant, before I entered academia, I also adopted thisstance. Assuring clients that I could never live up to their idealised expectations of who I was and what I coulddeliver. The best I could do was the best I could do. No more, no less.These days, in educational and organizational settings doing the ‘best I can do’ is perceived as ‘not good enough’. Inorder to survive, and thrive, I need to offer more than the best. I need to provide satisfaction with a money backguarantee.The tyranny of satisfaction reigns everywhere. We are frequently ‘outraged’ and ‘disgusted’ when services fail tomeet their emphasis on customer satisfaction. Organisational members who exceed targets by 10 per cent thisquarter are rarely cheered on and told to take it easy for the next quarter. Next quarter’s target has now beenincreased by 10 per cent, which becomes the new normal.1/3Increasingly organisations are investing time, resources (human and financial) in an attempt to generate positivework environments. This optimal organizational form is a sanitized, rationalized environment where prescribedfeelings prevail and positivity guarantees productivity. Excelling and exceeding are the cultural norms;disappointment and failure are relegated to the margins (Fineman, 2006).Disappointment is characterised as a negative emotion, considered to be unproductive, undermining of morale anda justification for inertia (van Dijk and Zeelenberg, 2002, van Dijk et al., 2003, Zeelenberg et al., 1998, Zeelenberg etal., 2000). In addition, it’s not as powerful as anger or envy so doesn’t merit much attention in organizationalsettings. Disappointment is viewed as a contaminant and as something that must be managed out of organizationalsystems if it isn’t to undermine effectiveness and productivity. Disappointed individuals are simply victims ofcircumstance and disappointed organisations have failed in their mission. Whichever way we turn, disappointmentpoints to failure of self or other to live up to expectations.Yet most of us at some point have encountered disappointment. It lives in the personal stories and lives ofindividuals who cope with unrealistic organizational demands. It lives in the absentee rates and mid-life depressionsuffered by those who imagined their careers would have turned out differently.The psychoanalyst Melanie Klein in her work with very small children pointed to a developmental stage which shecalled the ‘depressive position’ (Klein, 1975). This is the moment when babies realise that their carer is bothsatisfying and disappointing at the same time. The same person feeds the child when she is hungry and fails to hearthe child’s hungry cries at other times. Our capacity to tolerate this imperfection in others and, eventually, inourselves is a milestone in the maturation process. Splitting the world into good and bad serves a useful purposewhen we are overwhelmed by anxiety but it only serves to maintain the illusion of all good and all bad if we areunable to tolerate the middle ground of disappointment.Likewise in organisations: Disappointment is systemically generated when the fantasy of the all good, 24/7available, target-busting organisation is perceived to he the norm and is not challenged. Individuals metabolise theexperience on behalf of the wider system allowing it to delude itself that ever-increasing targets are realistic.Disappointment is the moment at which the fantasy of ‘what we should be’ meets the reality of ‘what we are’.Disappointment is data about unrealistic expectations and is also a clue to the systemic conditions in which thoseconditions are generated. Disappointment is also an invitation to reimagine attainable and realistic goals and targets.Yet too often organisations get stuck in the blame/shame aspects of disappointment. Locating blame in otherdepartments; feeling the shame of being the disappointing team member who let the team down during apresentation. This dynamic is a toxic mix that further relegates disappointment to the edges of organizationalsystems.How then can we learn about and from disappointment? My research suggests that ‘mourning the future’ is the keycomponent in this process: Taking the time to grieve and learn about the hopes and dreams contained in thatidealised fantasy of the future (Clancy et al., 2012). What is wrapped up in the expectation of an ideal lecturer?Brilliant boss? The next great contract? Being available 24/7 for customers? What is it we are afraid of losing if welet go of that dream? In bringing the fantasy into reality it is possible to relinquish attachment to its power andreimagine a future that is achievable and more realistic.When my students have concluded their ‘outrage’ and ‘indignation’ at the temerity of their lecturer proffering ‘goodenough’ conditions; we get on with the messy and ordinary task of learning together. Often exceeding ourexpectations but rarely blaming each other for failing to live up to imaginary standards beyond the realm of reality.♣♣♣Notes:For the full list of articles in the Surviving Work in the UK series, click here; for a list of contributors to the2/3series, click here.The post gives the views of its author, not the position of LSE Business Review or the London School ofEconomics.Before commenting, please read our Comment Policy.Annette Clancy is a lecturer/assistant professor of Organisational Behaviour at University CollegeDublin Ireland. She earned her PhD at the University of Bath where her doctoral researchinvestigated disappointment (frequently assumed to be a ‘negative’ emotion) and explored how itmight be reimagined as a catalyst for organisational learning and creativity. She received her MScfrom the University of Sunderland where she studied systemic organisation and management. Thefocus of Annette’s research is on emotion in organisations and in particular how unconsciousdynamics influence and inform how work is performed. Prior to joining UCD Annette ran her ownorganisational consultancy practice for over 17 years. She consulted to and coached seniorexecutives in over 100 organisations cross the public, private and not for profit sectors in Ireland, the UK and theUSA. Prior to her consulting career Annette held senior management positions in the cultural sector in Ireland andthe UK.Copyright © 2015 London School of Economics3/3

Research Repository UCD

Title The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisationsAuthors(s) Clancy, AnnettePublication date 2016-11-14Publication information Clancy, Annette. “The Tyranny of Satisfaction Reigns in Organisations.” London School of Economics, November 14, 2016.Publisher London School of EconomicsItem record/more informationhttp://hdl.handle.net/10197/8207Downloaded 2023-11-01T04:02:15ZThe UCD community has made this article openly available. Please share how this accessbenefits you. Your story matters! (@ucd_oa)© Some rights reserved. For more information15/11/2016, 13*25LSE Business Review – The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisationsPage 1 of 3http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2016/11/14/the-tyranny-of-satisfaction-reigns-in-organisations/The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisationsThe fantasy of the all good, 24/7 available, target-busting firm is a recipe fordisappointment, writes Annette ClancyImage by geralt, under a CC0 licenceI begin most of my lectures by telling students I intend to disappoint them. I tell them I lookforward to the moment when they realise that I have failed to live up to their expectations of me.Their fantasy of me as the all-knowing, all-powerful leader who will teach them what they needto know despite their creative attempts to avoid the anxiety of ignorance and will grade them atprecisely the right mark to ensure a worthy grade point average will be punctured. It’s just amatter of when. It’s at that point that we meet as real, frail, complicated, human entitiesstruggling to learn something together.Inevitably that opening statement meets with some pushback. What do I mean I will disappoint?Surely it’s my job to be an exemplary role model? They’ve paid a lot of money to be in my classand I have no right to lower their expectations!Towards the latter end of my career as an organizational consultant, before I entered academia,I also adopted this stance. Assuring clients that I could never live up to their idealisedexpectations of who I was and what I could deliver. The best I could do was the best I could do.No more, no less.These days, in educational and organizational settings doing the ‘best I can do’ is perceived as‘not good enough’. In order to survive, and thrive, I need to offer more than the best. I need toprovide satisfaction with a money back guarantee.15/11/2016, 13*25LSE Business Review – The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisationsPage 2 of 3http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2016/11/14/the-tyranny-of-satisfaction-reigns-in-organisations/The tyranny of satisfaction reigns everywhere. We are frequently ‘outraged’ and ‘disgusted’when services fail to meet their emphasis on customer satisfaction. Organisational memberswho exceed targets by 10 per cent this quarter are rarely cheered on and told to take it easy forthe next quarter. Next quarter’s target has now been increased by 10 per cent, which becomesthe new normal.Increasingly organisations are investing time, resources (human and financial) in an attempt togenerate positive work environments. This optimal organizational form is a sanitized,rationalized environment where prescribed feelings prevail and positivity guaranteesproductivity. Excelling and exceeding are the cultural norms; disappointment and failure arerelegated to the margins (Fineman, 2006).Disappointment is characterised as a negative emotion, considered to be unproductive,undermining of morale and a justification for inertia (van Dijk and Zeelenberg, 2002, van Dijk etal., 2003, Zeelenberg et al., 1998, Zeelenberg et al., 2000). In addition, it’s not as powerful asanger or envy so doesn’t merit much attention in organizational settings. Disappointment isviewed as a contaminant and as something that must be managed out of organizationalsystems if it isn’t to undermine effectiveness and productivity. Disappointed individuals aresimply victims of circumstance and disappointed organisations have failed in their mission.Whichever way we turn, disappointment points to failure of self or other to live up toexpectations.Yet most of us at some point have encountered disappointment. It lives in the personal storiesand lives of individuals who cope with unrealistic organizational demands. It lives in theabsentee rates and mid-life depression suffered by those who imagined their careers wouldhave turned out differently.The psychoanalyst Melanie Klein in her work with very small children pointed to adevelopmental stage which she called the ‘depressive position’ (Klein, 1975). This is themoment when babies realise that their carer is both satisfying and disappointing at the sametime. The same person feeds the child when she is hungry and fails to hear the child’s hungrycries at other times. Our capacity to tolerate this imperfection in others and, eventually, inourselves is a milestone in the maturation process. Splitting the world into good and bad servesa useful purpose when we are overwhelmed by anxiety but it only serves to maintain the illusionof all good and all bad if we are unable to tolerate the middle ground of disappointment.Likewise in organisations: Disappointment is systemically generated when the fantasy of the allgood, 24/7 available, target-busting organisation is perceived to he the norm and is notchallenged. Individuals metabolise the experience on behalf of the wider system allowing it todelude itself that ever-increasing targets are realistic.Disappointment is the moment at which the fantasy of ‘what we should be’ meets the reality of‘what we are’. Disappointment is data about unrealistic expectations and is also a clue to thesystemic conditions in which those conditions are generated. Disappointment is also aninvitation to reimagine attainable and realistic goals and targets. Yet too often organisations getstuck in the blame/shame aspects of disappointment. Locating blame in other departments;feeling the shame of being the disappointing team member who let the team down during apresentation. This dynamic is a toxic mix that further relegates disappointment to the edges oforganizational systems.15/11/2016, 13*25LSE Business Review – The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisationsPage 3 of 3http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2016/11/14/the-tyranny-of-satisfaction-reigns-in-organisations/November 14th, 2016 | Annette Clancy, Surviving Work in the UK | 1 CommentHow then can we learn about and from disappointment? My research suggests that ‘mourningthe future’ is the key component in this process: Taking the time to grieve and learn about thehopes and dreams contained in that idealised fantasy of the future (Clancy et al., 2012). What iswrapped up in the expectation of an ideal lecturer? Brilliant boss? The next great contract?Being available 24/7 for customers? What is it we are afraid of losing if we let go of that dream?In bringing the fantasy into reality it is possible to relinquish attachment to its power andreimagine a future that is achievable and more realistic.When my students have concluded their ‘outrage’ and ‘indignation’ at the temerity of theirlecturer proffering ‘good enough’ conditions; we get on with the messy and ordinary task oflearning together. Often exceeding our expectations but rarely blaming each other for failing tolive up to imaginary standards beyond the realm of reality.♣♣♣Notes:For the full list of articles in the Surviving Work in the UK series, click here; for a list ofcontributors to the series, click here.The post gives the views of its author, not the position of LSE Business Review or theLondon School of Economics.Before commenting, please read our Comment Policy.Annette Clancy is a lecturer/assistant professor of Organisational Behaviour atUniversity College Dublin Ireland. She earned her PhD at the University of Bathwhere her doctoral research investigated disappointment (frequently assumed tobe a ‘negative’ emotion) and explored how it might be reimagined as a catalystfor organisational learning and creativity. She received her MSc from theUniversity of Sunderland where she studied systemic organisation andmanagement. The focus of Annette’s research is on emotion in organisations andin particular how unconscious dynamics influence and inform how work is performed. Prior tojoining UCD Annette ran her own organisational consultancy practice for over 17 years. Sheconsulted to and coached senior executives in over 100 organisations cross the public, privateand not for profit sectors in Ireland, the UK and the USA. Prior to her consulting career Annetteheld senior management positions in the cultural sector in Ireland and the UK.

The tyranny of satisfaction reigns in organisations

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