setting up to fail

Setting up to fail is a well-established workplace bullying tactic.Peyton, PR. Dignity at Work: Eliminate Bullying and Create a Positive Working Environment (2003)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 1997Randle J Workplace Bullying in the NHS (2006) One technique is to overload with work, while denying the victim the authority to handle it and over-interfering;J-F Manzoni/J-L Barsoux, The Set-up-to-fail Syndrome (2007) p. 5 and p. 12 another is the withholding of the information necessary to succeed.Tim Field, Bully in Sight, Success Unlimited (1996) pp. 63–7 {{ISBN|978-0-9529121-0-1}}

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.Tim Field, Bully in Sight Success Unlimited (1996) p. 43 {{ISBN|978-0-9529121-0-1}} 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.S. White, An Introduction to the Psychodynamics of Workplace Bullying (2013) pp. 31–2

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.

Another case where employees are set up to fail is one in which new employees, or redundant employees, are considered harmful or a threat to other employees, resulting in their efforts to sabotage others work to maintain their positions if a future reduction in force is anticipated.

Minorities seeking positions in society often feel they have been set up to fail in the face of covert institutional racism or sexism – something feared for example by the first Black US naval officers.Paul Stillwell/Colin L Powell, The Golden Thirteen (2003) p. 98 and p. 86

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.Debra Wesselmann, The Whole Parent (2003) p. 104 The result may be to create a self-destructive syndrome in the child – the so-called Divine Child complex.Polly Young-Eisendrath, Women and Desire (London 2000) p. 107 and p. 113

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.Neville Symington, Narcissism (2003) p. 70 Conversely, the helper, needing to keep clients in a state of dependency,P. Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 144 may be threatened by the prospect of success/closure, and undermine the therapy accordingly.Eric Berne, Games People Play (1966) pp. 126–7

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,R. E. Boyatzis/A. McKee, Resonant Leadership (2005) p. 156 or failure neurosis{{cite web|last=De Mijolla|first=Alain|title=Failure neurosis|url=https://www.enotes.com/failure-neurosis-reference/failure-neurosis|publisher=Enotes|access-date=8 April 2013}} – perhaps driven by a sense of guilt,Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 506 or by the compulsion to repeat self-destructive behaviour.S, Freud, On Metapsychology (PFL 11) pp. 292–3

It is a tactic used in reality television, where situations are engineered to produce certain results.Fenton, 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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620223919/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/television/insiders-say-sleep-deprivation-and-setting-contestants-up-to-fail-are-common-tricks-of-the-trade/news-story/538b27f72c182c336ef0cc50b16fe5e8?nk=f613fd3aea5878550c0d1341d00d0fd4-1592692759 |date=2020-06-20 }}. 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". 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."

9/11 Commission member Lee H. Hamilton was quoted as saying that "the Commission was set up to fail"; some observers interpreted this as meaning that he was dissatisfied with the results of the 9/11 Commission Report, and conspiracy theory developed. The context of the interview transcript indicates that Hamilton said his reasoning was that "Tom Kean and I were substitutes—Henry Kissinger and George Mitchell were the first choices; we got started late; we had a very short time frame—indeed, we had to get it extended; we did not have enough money—3 million dollars to conduct an extensive investigation. We needed more, we got more, but it took us a while to get it."[http://other.skepticproject.com/articles/quotes/view/27/911-commission-member-said-commission-was-setup-t/ Quotes - 9/11 Commission member said Commission was set up to fail].Skeptic Project. Accessed September 5, 2015.

• In the 1967 film The Producers and its later adaptations, two Broadway producers try to set up a show to fail by intentionally selecting an offensive script.
• In the film The Hudsucker Proxy a corporation attempts to find a "dimwit, a proxy, a pawn, somebody we can really push around" for CEO, in order to manipulate the stock price to crash so that the board of directors can gain greater control of outstanding shares.
• Reginald Perrin tried to set himself up to fail by starting a shop called Grot, which only sold useless goods.

• Abilene paradox
• Jonah complex
• Moving the goalposts
• Planned obsolescence
• Self-sabotage
• Social undermining

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Category:Figures of speech

Category:Workplace harassment and bullying