The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail [Hardcover]

Jean-Francois Manzoni (Author), Jean-Louis Barsoux (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

Does this scenario sound familiar? An employee you manage slips up somehow: a missed deadline, a lost account, or a weak presentation. You decide to oversee that person's work more closely. After all, if your direct reports aren't delivering, it's your head that will roll. To further your frustration, the more you 'help', the worse the employee's performance becomes. What's going on? In this eye-opening book, leadership experts Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux expose a disturbing and surprisingly rampant phenomenon. While common wisdom assumes that so-called poor performers fail in spite of their boss' best efforts, this book demonstrates exactly the opposite. In many cases, a boss' attitudes and behaviors actually cause or 'set up' certain individuals - including those with great potential - to fail. Based on ten years of study into boss-subordinate relationships, Manzoni and Barsoux show that this Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome is not confined to relationships with the proverbial 'boss from hell'. Even respected leaders - whether CEOs, teachers, or coaches - get caught up in it. The problem stems from the fact that while most managers empower and encourage star performers, they tend to micromanage and control perceived 'weaker' performers in ways that stifle self-confidence and drive. The unwitting result: the latter group lives down to expectations, rather than living up to its true potential. The cost of the Syndrome, say Manzoni and Barsoux, goes well beyond the lost productivity of a few individuals. It also threatens to derail careers, takes a heavy toll on morale, and hampers overall organizational results. Through dozens of interviews, illustrative stories, and compelling research, they show how readers can: determine whether they are involved in a set-up-to-fail dynamic, Recognize the mental biases that cause bosses to trigger the cycle; understand how subordinates contribute to fueling the problem; take specific steps to interrupt the cycle through proactive interventions; and, prevent the Syndrome altogether by managing relationships differently. For anyone with influence on an individual's potential, this book offers powerful ways to improve performance - and quality of life - in any organizational setting. Jean-Francois Manzoni is Associate Professor of Management and founding director of the research initiative on High Performance Organizations at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. Jean-Louis Barsoux is a Senior Research Fellow at INSEAD.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome, by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux, looks into the negative dynamics that unintentionally but unequivocally define far too many relationships between bosses and the people who report to them. More importantly, it also proposes ways to attack the problem where it exists and to keep it from occurring elsewhere. Manzoni and Barsoux, researchers at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, first addressed the issue in a 1998 Harvard Business Review article examining how "bosses unwittingly set up some of their subordinates to fail and, more generally, mismanage many of the subordinates they regard as acceptable but lower-than-average performers." After discussing the various causes and effects of this behavior--including why responses from both sides tend to generate "an escalating spiral of malaise and underperformance"--the authors present assorted remedies (such as "the mental adjustments bosses must make before trying to interrupt" this conduct), a framework for interventions (with details, for example, on handling discussions between two parties whose rapport has deteriorated), and a litany of preventive measures (including specific suggestions for getting new relationships off to a positive start). Very well researched with solid, practical advice. --Howard Rothman

From Publishers Weekly

In this thoughtful examination of the downward spirals that employers and employees can fall into, management experts Manzoni and Barsoux consider some of the problems that cause a work relationship to end badly. The duo encourages bosses to look inward and examine their own behavior and its effect on subordinates, highlighting the stress of subtly creating a dynamic in which employees "start living down to expectations," among other negative situations. While work relationships are often highly complex and nuanced, the authors point out that in some instances, difficulties result from misunderstood behavior that becomes "self-fulfilling" and "self-reinforcing," a dangerous circle. Manzoni and Barsoux show that highly successful workers generally belong to the "in-group," which boosts self-confidence and provides access to resources not available to those trapped in the "out-group." It comes as no surprise that many morale-lowering problems are avoidable and in some ways predictable, involving basic issues such as fairness, freedom and choice, and the difference between a boss asking rather than telling. And while the road to long-lasting behavioral change is long, it is a type of business investment that has "become a condition for survival in an increasingly demanding world." HR departments and bosses alike would be wise to consult this guide in an effort to build better work relationships, as its nitty-gritty explanations of the "set-up-to-fail syndrome" will raise crucial self-awareness, a useful tool for everyone, regardless of position in the work food-chain.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875849490
• ISBN-13: 978-0875849492
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relationship between leadership and subordinate performance, February 21, 2002

By 

Gerard Kroese (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) (Digital)

Jean-Francois Manzoni is Assistant Professor of Accounting and Control at French business school INSEAD; Jean-Louis Barsoux is a Research Fellow at INSEAD. Barsoux is also co-author of 'Managing Across Cultures' (1997). This Harvard Business Review article was published in March-April 1998.

This article is based on two studies designed to better understand the causal relationship between leadership style and subordinate performance - or in other words, how bosses and subordinates mutually influence each other's behavior. Those studies suggest that bosses - albeit accidentally and usually with the best intentions - are often complicit in an employee's lack of success. Manzoni and Barsoux use the term 'set-up-to-fail syndrome' to describe a dynamic "in which employees perceived to be mediocre or weak performers live down to the low expectations their managers have for them." The set-up-to-fail syndrome usually begins surreptitiously and underlying the syndrome are several assumptions/generalizations about weaker performers that bosses appear to accept uniformly. The authors describe these assumptions/generalizations and the impact they have on organizations and relationships. The two costs of the syndrome are the emotional cost paid by the associate and the organizational cost associated with the company's failure to get the best out of an employee. Other costs to consider, often indirect and long term, are: Sapping of the boss' emotional and physical energy, the impact on the boss' reputation, and the impact on the team (team spirit, time management, etc.). So how can we break out of this syndrome? The authors provide a five components framework for effective interventions but they warn that these interventions do not take place very often. In line with the recent emphasis on emotional intelligence, they conclude that higher emotional involvement and investment from bosses is the key to getting the subordinates to work to their full potential.

Good article into a very familiar problem, not just to organizations but also to people. The 'set-up-to-fail syndrome' is mostly based on generalizations by managers and bosses, but is difficult to reverse. The authors provide a solution which is primarily based on emotional intelligence, which is still difficult to learn. I recommend this article as an complement to Daniel Goleman's articles and books into emotional intelligent leadership and management. The authors use simple business US-English.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Negative Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, May 26, 2003

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail (Hardcover)

This book is based on more than fifteen years of extended and combined research whose primary objective was to reveal the reasons why so many in positions of authority, especially bosses, are so ineffective when managing their subordinates, especially their perceived weaker performers. That is to say, supervisors are often unaware of the fact that they are "complicit in an employee's lack of success. How? By creating and reinforcing a dynamic that essentially sets up perceived weaker performers to fail." Hence the title of Manzoni and Barsoux's book. The authors explain the causes and effects of that "dynamic" (see "Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome," Chapter 3) and also explain how to avoid it ("Preventing the Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: Lessons from the Syndrome Busters," Chapter 9). One of this book's most valuable contributions is comprised of a series of "Tables" which organize and summarize key points. For example:

Table 2-1: "How Bosses See Their Behavior toward Subordinates" which contrasts tendencies of bosses in relationships with weaker and stronger performers.

Table 5-1: "Taking Sides" which presents two views of the same supervisor's observed behavior either as a "great boss" or as an "impossible boss."

Table 7-2: "Taking Responsibility Away from an Employee" which juxtaposes a supervisor's thoughts and feelings about a subordinate with their interaction in dialogue.

Manzoni and Barsoux assert that the set-up-to-fail syndrome is "both self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing, which obscures the boss's responsibility in the process as well as some of the key psychological and social mechanisms involved." My own experience suggests an often great discrepancy exists between modes of behavior determined by conscious and unconscious mindsets. That is to say, many supervisors would vehemently deny that they are "complicit in an employee's lack of success....[by] creating and reinforcing a dynamic that essentially sets up perceived weaker performers to fail." Nonetheless they are. Were they to read this book, they would probably agree that there is such a syndrome and then lament how unfair it is to subordinates who are victimized by it.

One final point. Countless research studies of face-to-face communication have arrived at essentially the same conclusion: Body language creates 60-75% of the impact, tone of voice 15-20%, and content (i.e. what is actually said) only 10-15%. (Percentages vary among research studies but only slightly.) With the publication of this book, Manzoni and Barsoux have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of a widespread but, until now, neglected cause of human dysfunction in the workplace. Whether intentionally or not, a supervisor can sometimes create irreparable damage, especially to those who already feel insecure, by a negative and demeaning "message" which need not be expressed in words but comes through loud and clear nonetheless.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Common Wisdom: Insidious & Pernicious, March 11, 2004

By 

Rob Orr (Metuchen, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail (Hardcover)

This work deftly weaves those seemingly abstract and academic studies Psychology 101 students have been reading about for 40 years into the fabric of everyday work experience. The authors are able to put the subtle pattern into high resolution, which at first appears shocking, then depressing, and finally, hopeful.

It was depressing to think that the syndrome is both insidious and pernicious because the common wisdom of most coaching models is a key driver of the syndrome. That is, when a manager notices a performance problem, the appropriate response is to give the person feedback and put them on a "short leash" so that the employee gets extra guidance. On the face, this starts a chain of events:
* Employee perceives the lack of trust, feels cramped by the limited autonomy, as well as being under appreciated.
* Employee responds by withdrawing and reducing unnecessary contact with the boss.
* The Boss takes the withdrawal as confirmation the this is indeed a weaker performer and so shortens the leash even more.
* Progressively, the employee begins to doubt her own capability and ability to contribute, and
* The ugly cycle continues in a downward spiral and the employee has been successfully set up to fail.

It was hopeful to realize that the dynamic is not really based in the coaching model at all. It is based in the very human tendency to categorize and label. It is the common wisdom that there are three kinds of employees: the Stars (or A-Players), the Worker Bees (or B-Players), and the Deadwood (or C-Players). The problem lies in the labeling and how the manager relates to the Worker Bee employee. The Stars have close partnerships with the Boss and are treated as `trusted assistants." The Worker Bees, on the other hand, have low quality relationships with the Boss and are treated as "hired hands." This stark differentiation in the quality of relationship, based on the label is at the root of the issue. Curt Coffman of the Gallup Organization has said, "We're running as an economy at a 30% efficiency rate because so many workers are not contributing as much as they can..." because a disconnect with an immediate supervisor.

Psychologists say that "Perception is not reality." That is truth in their offices; truth in the workplace is, "Perception IS reality." Unfortunate but true. Manzoni & Barsoux do the business world a great service because they clearly and skillfully lay out how our perception creates unintended bias. This awareness is required by both the Boss and the Subordinate to be able to stop the dysfunctional "dance" that occurs when the Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome is at work. The hope that they present is that awareness leads to re-evaluation and the reduction of bias.

This is one powerful book; buy it, read it, talk about it.