“Setting up to fail”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The first known documented use of "set up to fail" was in 1969 in the United States.^[2]

In the workplace

Setting up to fail is a well-established workplace bullying tactic.^[3]^[4]^[5] One technique is to overload with work, while denying the victim the authority to handle it and over-interfering;^[6] another is the withholding of the information necessary to succeed.^[7]

If a person puts another individual (usually a subordinate) in a stressful situation in which failure is almost certain, this may be an aspect of bullying wherein the outcome can then be used to discredit and blame the victim.^[8] Sometimes, this may involve the bully covertly sabotaging and undermining an objective that may have otherwise been achievable. This type of bullying may be the result of the projection of the bully's own feelings of inadequacy onto the victim.^[9]

There can be cases where an employee is set up to fail because the stated goals of the task are considered harmful to the organization; an internal investigation is one example. Institutions may protect themselves by "going through the motions" of a sham investigation in which the findings conveniently fail to find any evidence of wrongdoing by the authorities involved with setting up the investigation.

Bigotry

Minorities seeking acceptance into the mainstream are often concerned about being set up to fail in the face of covert institutional racism – something feared for example by the first black US naval officers.^[10]

Families

Parents may have excessive expectations for their children's academic success for instance, thus setting them up for failure by hoping they may solve their parents' problems for them.^[11] The result may be to create a self-destructive syndrome in the child – the so-called Divine Child complex.^[12]

Therapy

Therapy may be sabotaged by either the client or the provider. The client, both hoping for and fearing the possibility of real help, may impose conditions on the therapy that all but guarantee its failure.^[13] Conversely, the helper, needing to keep clients in a state of dependency,^[14] may be threatened by the prospect of success/closure, and undermine the therapy accordingly.^[15]

Setting oneself up to fail

A person setting themselves up for failure may do so because they have a fear of failure, an unrealistic assessment of their own abilities, or because they are naive and uninformed regarding the abilities necessary to succeed. In some cases, an individual has an unjustified expectation that they will fail, a self-reinforcing negative spiral,^[16] or failure neurosis^[17] – perhaps driven by a sense of guilt,^[18] or by the compulsion to repeat self-destructive behaviour.^[19]

In television

It is a tactic used in reality television, where situations are engineered to produce certain results.^[20] My Kitchen Rules contestant Emily Cheung told the reporter that "she believes the producers set them up for failure in the instant restaurant round when they were told at 6 o'clock the night before they had to cook a Chinese dish they weren't familiar with—smoked quail—and scored 2 out of 10".^[20] The same article goes on to state that, "A former Apprentice contestant feels similarly manipulated, saying he believed producers had already decided who they wanted to win when he was eliminated."^[20]

9/11 Commission

In popular culture

See also

References

1. ^Stambor, Zak.[https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug06/apathy.aspx "Bullying stems from fear, apathy."] APA.com. Originally published in Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association. July/August 2006, vol. 37, no. 7. p. 72
2. ^[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8-zQAAAAMAAJ&q=%22set+up+to+fail%22&dq=%22set+up+to+fail%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4f4BVY6nKsTiU-CzgOAO&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw Economic Opportunity Amendments of 1969: Hearings, Ninety-first Congress, First Session, on H.R. 513]
3. ^Peyton, PR. Dignity at Work: Eliminate Bullying and Create a Positive Working Environment (2003)
4. ^Rayner C, Hoel H A. "Summary Review of Literature Relating to Workplace Bullying", Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, volume 7, issue 3, pages 181–191, June 1997
5. ^Randle J Workplace Bullying in the NHS (2006)
6. ^J-F Manzoni/J-L Barsoux, The Set-up-to-fail Syndrome (2007) p. 5 and p. 12
7. ^Tim Field, Bully in Sight, Success Unlimited (1996) pp. 63–7 {{ISBN|978-0-9529121-0-1}}
8. ^Tim Field, Bully in Sight Success Unlimited (1996) p. 43 {{ISBN|978-0-9529121-0-1}}
9. ^S. White, An Introduction to the Psychodynamics of Workplace Bullying (2013) pp. 31–2
10. ^Paul Stillwell/Colin L Powell, The Golden Thirteen (2003) p. 98 and p. 86
11. ^Debra Wesselmann, The Whole Parent (2003) p. 104
12. ^Polly Young-Eisendrath, Women and Desire (London 2000) p. 107 and p. 113
13. ^Neville Symington, Narcissism (2003) p. 70
14. ^P. Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 144
15. ^Eric Berne, Games People Play (1966) pp. 126–7
16. ^¹R. E. Boyatzis/A. McKee, Resonant Leadership (2005) p. 156
17. ^{{cite web|last=De Mijolla|first=Alain|title=Failure neurosis|url=https://www.enotes.com/failure-neurosis-reference/failure-neurosis|publisher=Enotes|accessdate=8 April 2013}}
18. ^Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 506
19. ^S, Freud, On Metapsychology (PFL 11) pp. 292–3
20. ^¹²³Fenton, Andrew and Anna Brain. [https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/television/insiders-say-sleep-deprivation-and-setting-contestants-up-to-fail-are-common-tricks-of-the-trade/story-fni0cjvj-1227514099525 "Insiders say sleep deprivation and setting contestants up to fail are common tricks of the trade"]. The Daily Telegraph (Australia). September 5, 2015. Accessed September 5, 2015. Originally from [https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/insiders-say-sleep-deprivation-and-setting-contestants-up-to-fail-are-common-tricks-of-the-trade/story-fn8yvfst-1227514099525?sv=de7b067521996b03d5249c278376d647 news.com.au].
21. ^¹Quotes - 9/11 Commission member said Commission was set up to fail.Skeptic Project. Accessed September 5, 2015.