Fear Freeze: "We Can’t Talk About This!”

Organizational Change Trap #2

If you thought that the Checkbox Paradox was the only trap to be we need to be aware of, think again! While it has proven to be a very misleading approach for assessing progress or achievement, particularly under DEI initiatives, there are other traps we tend to fall into that hinder momentum forward. Let’s talk about the Fear Freeze.

This trap was far more pervasive than we would like to think. Even myself, a woman of color with many other diversity characteristics was stifled by my own fear of saying the wrong thing or being seen as offending someone or being politically incorrect. Although anybody that knows me would recognize that this would be the furthest from my intentions. I found myself hesitant and very cautious to even ask questions and hiding genuine curiosity for deeper understanding. This felt very counterintuitive to what DEI was supposed to achieve, wasn’t it? I know I wasn’t alone based on the cloaked conversations I did have with others feeling the same way. So, extending beyond myself, I can only imagine the influence this had globally creating another layer of complexity promoting a culture of silence, hindering progress, and inadvertently costing businesses more than they might realize.

It is because of this phenomenon that we didn’t name, call out, or address that we may have really missed the mark and potential for better results as we attempted “executing DEI.”

When we operate from a place a fear, we tend to freeze. This causes us to get stuck in a state of paralysis because we are afraid of the consequences of a decision, position, or stance. We find ourselves trapped in cycles of rumination, overthinking, doubting, or staying stuck, convincing ourselves that we are better off doing nothing and saying nothing because it is safer than doing or saying the wrong thing. This place of indecision and uncertainty is just an illusion of being in control, making the choice to do nothing, when it is simply another version of avoidance that hinders any kind of progress.

So, you might be asking yourself why would anyone choose to stay or operate from fear freeze?

Again, as mentioned above the act of avoidance can feel like protection for some. Protecting ourselves from failure, being disliked, embarrassment, and even regret. What we fail to see from this vantage point is what this holds us back from. When we are stuck we miss opportunities, we don’t grow, we lose time, and very often we are caught in cycles of rumination and anxiety.

When we get caught up in overthinking patterns, we fool ourselves into interpreting our constant analysis is us just being careful. This can actually become very frustrating and misinformative as we are not gaining new insight, just repeating and likely amplifying the validity of our holding pattern. This only further exaggerates our sense of paralysis because the longer we held back by fear we tend to make whatever it is in our brains bigger and more complex further keeping us in stagnation. This only reinforces our toxic thinking and fear freeze!

So, in order to break free from this cycle, we must get comfortable with the idea of being uncomfortable and that it is ok to make a mistake and learn from it. If we look back on our lives, how many of us can say we got everything right the first time?….probably no one. Why?...because progress has never hinged on being right or never having to modify and try again. This is essential for any kind of innovation or evolution, personal or professional.

So, imagine the power of this moment in time, when our passion for inclusion is louder than ever. We must seize it and break free from our fear freeze by having conversations that matter. Ones where can continue to learn and evolve our humanity in business and globally.

This is not about getting DEI right or wrong. Shift the mindset to asking “what have we learned and what do we need to consider going forward?” Let’s keep the momentum going forward.