How Workplace Bullies Use OODA: II

Last time, we began our exploration of how workplace bullies use the OODA Model by noticing that most bullies are very intuitive about it. And we gained some insight into how bullies select targets, and how targets can respond. Let's now consider how bullies use the OODA model for shaping the dynamics of the environment in which they work.

Controlling tempo

Bullies understand that a high tempo of attacks can overwhelm targets. By getting inside their targets' OODA loops, they reduce the effort required to maintain the advantage. Since workplace bullies also understand that targets who feel hopeless are more likely to quit their jobs, bullies relent when they sense that their targets are near their breaking points.

Targets often report a feeling of being "on a roller coaster" of emotion, as they experience this alternation of intensity levels of bullying. The variation of intensity itself wears on targets. Some cease all efforts to resist, resigning themselves to just finding a way to endure. Bystanders are often intimidated, too, as they witness the bully's power to destroy targets.

Targets who understand and expect this alternation of intensity levels are better able to maintain emotional control. They won't relax as much during low-intensity phases, and they won't lose all hope during high-intensity phases. They also understand that their bullies use the targets' own responses to gauge what level of intensity would be most effective.

Environmental shaping

From the bully's perspective, environmental shaping requires paying attention to the activities of many people. First, there are the targets themselves. But there are also bystanders, supervisors, and miscellaneous officials.

Because From the bully's perspective,
environmental shaping requires
paying attention to the
activities of many peoplebystanders might report the workplace bully's activities to officials, bullies seek to intimidate bystanders, or better, to convert them into compliant allies. Since supervisors can also be threats, bullies either mollify them with bribes of performance, or threaten them directly or indirectly. They often employ deception to confuse the supervisor, and they carefully monitor the supervisor's state of mind. They must also monitor, deceive or control other organizational officials, who tend to be less trouble since they're usually more distant.

Since the environment surrounding the bully can be very complex, the bully tries to simplify the situation by limiting the number of players involved, or by deceiving them about the nature of the bullying activity. Undermining the bully's deceptions is therefore a profitable strategy for targets, because it adds complexity to the overall problem the bully must solve.

These observations suggest that to confound the bully, targets can also use OODA. By being less predictable, and by overloading the bully's ability to shape the environment, targets can get inside the bully's OODA Loop. We'll examine ways to accomplish these goals next time. First in this series   Top    Next Issue

Are you being targeted by a workplace bully? Do you know what to do to end the bullying? Workplace bullying is so widespread that a 2014 survey indicated that 27% of American workers have experienced bullying firsthand, that 21% have witnessed it, and that 72% are aware that bullying happens. Yet, there are few laws to protect workers from bullies, and bullying is not a crime in most jurisdictions. 101 Tips for Targets of Workplace Bullies is filled with the insights targets of bullying need to find a way to survive, and then to finally end the bullying. Also available at Apple's iTunes store! Just . Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Workplace Bullying:

Some Truths About Lies: II

Knowing when someone else is lying doesn't make you a more ethical person, but it sure can be an advantage if you want to stay out of trouble. Here's Part II of a catalog of techniques misleaders use.

Hurtful Clichés: II

Much of our day-to-day conversation consists of harmless clichés: "How goes it?" or "Nice to meet you." Some other clichés aren't harmless, but they're so common that we use them without thinking. Here's Part II of a series exploring some of these clichés.

Biological Mimicry and Workplace Bullying

When targets of bullies decide to stand up to their bullies, to end the harassment, they frequently act before they're really ready. Here's a metaphor that explains the value of waiting for the right time to act.

How Workplace Bullies Use OODA: I

Workplace bullies who succeed in carrying on their activities over a long period of time rely on more than mere intimidation to escape prosecution. They proactively shape their environments to make them safe for bullying. The OODA model gives us insights into how they accomplish this.

So You Want the Bullying to End: II

If you're the target of a workplace bully, ending the bullying can be an elusive goal. Here are some guidelines for tactics to bring it to a close.

See also Workplace Bullying and Conflict Management for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming October 23: Power Distance and Teams

One of the attributes of team cultures is something called power distance, which is a measure of the overall comfort people have with inequality in the distribution of power. Power distance can determine how well a team performs when executing high-risk projects. Available here and by RSS on October 23.

And on October 30: Power Distance and Risk

Managing or responding to project risks is much easier when team culture encourages people to report problems and question any plans they have reason to doubt. Here are five examples that show how such encouragement helps to manage risk. Available here and by RSS on October 30.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenmhXARWRMUvVyOdHlner@ChacxgDmtwOKrxnripPCoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Race to the South Pole: Lessons in Leadership

On 14 December 1911, four men led by Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole. Thirty-five days later, Robert F. Scott and four others followed. Amundsen had won the race to the pole. Amundsen's party returned to base on 26 January 1912. Scott's party perished. As historical drama, why this happened is interesting enough. But to organizational leaders, business analysts, project sponsors, and project managers, the story is fascinating. We'll use the history of this event to explore lessons in leadership and its application to organizational efforts. A fascinating and refreshing look at leadership from the vantage point of history. Read more about this program.

Here's a date for this program:

• Baldwin-Wallace University, 275 Eastland Road, Berea, Ohio 44017: November 7, Kerzner Lecture Series/International Project Management Day, sponsored by Baldwin Wallace University and the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Project Management Institute. Register now.
   

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.