Willful Blindness

by Carol Zizzo


We recently saw one of our favorite authors, Margaret Heffernan, author of Willful Blindness, present to 650 women executives at the annual Women Presidents Organization conference in Vancouver, B.C. Inspiring and terrifying, her message is good reason to pause and consider one’s own culpability in “willful blindness” through habits and beliefs in our workplace. Here are a few to consider.

Multi tasking: It’s an urban myth. We ask our brains to do things that science has proven it cannot do. Yet we insist on believing and acting as though they can. What do you believe?

Being Fatigued: Working long hours, getting poor quality or too little sleep, and taking on too much work result in moving glucose from the part of our brain used for critical thinking and data sorting to simply keeping us awake. We may recognize the problem, but will not know how to solve it. How often are you tired?

Unexamined Mental Models: Lack of dedicated time to examine our key orthodoxies leads to intolerance of opposing ideas and unconscious dismissal of what does not fit our ideology or reality. We alleviate our discomfort with dissonance by eliminating information that we don’t understand. What mental models prevent you from seeing true problems or their solutions?

Organizational Silos: Heffernan cited a recent study showing that 85% of employees know there are serious workplace issues, but will not speak up for fear of retribution. We hire smart people and train them to shut up. What is it like where you work?

Obedience: If we believe that the CEO is the ultimate authority, we are less likely to challenge and more likely to comply. Heffernan’s research indicates that over time, employees will shift from doing what is right to doing what will please. Have you had this experience in your career?

Bystander Theory: The greater the number of people who witness something going wrong, the less likely it is that someone will do something to stop it. We allow gossip to feel like action rather than recognizing it as a diffusion of accountability. Where does your human need to belong and get along triumph over causing positive change?

Examining your “eyesight” regularly for these instances of willful blindness can lead to clear vision and foresight!