Dare I say it? Learned Helplessness.

Here’s a reasonable definition from Psychology Today

Learned helplessness occurs when an individual continuously faces a negative, uncontrollable situation and stops trying to change their circumstances, even when they have the ability to do so. For example, a smoker may repeatedly try and fail to quit. He may grow frustrated and come to believe that nothing he does will help, and therefore, he stops trying altogether. The perception that one cannot control the situation essentially elicits a passive response to the harm that is occurring.

In a recent post and article, Sandy Mamoli explores it in relation to autonomy. Her article was titled “The AI Trap: Why Command and Control Will Break Our Organizations.”

She speaks to the notion of learned helplessness in today’s organizations and how it undermines our intentions for autonomy. The challenging part is that we (all of us) own our learned helplessness.

She also speaks to the impact (or emphasis) that command-and-control leadership and AI are having (not reducing) our learned helplessness.

This is the second time Sandy has explored this topic. Here is keynote video that aligns perfectly with this post.

I think Sandy has hit on a key risk from AI in today’s organizations, and I would strongly encourage you to read the article.

Stay agile, my friends,

Bob.

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