Managers’ implicit assumptions about workers produce the very behavior they predict

Evidence

Early on, McGregor’s (1960) Theory X nicely illustrated the dynamics of such self-reinforcing adaptive expectations and subsequent selffulfilling prophecies in organizations. The starting point of his Theory X spiral is managers’ implicit assumptions, about the nature of their employees-as being interested only in monetary rewards, hating to take on responsibility, and shirking wherever they can. This implicit theory of human behavior not only defines the set of expected managerial behaviors but also essentially frames management’s decisions on reward systems and organizational design (in particular: a strong emphasis on control and authority), which, in turn, evoke corresponding reaction patterns (especially passivity, indolence, and apathy). — Jörg Sydow, Georg Schreyögg, and Jochen Koch, Organizational Path Dependence, 92

Categorization

• XREF: Direct kin to Rosenthal and Jacobson’s Pygmalion effect and to Merton’s original 1948 self-fulfilling prophecy essay.
• DEFINE: Names Theory X as an implicit-theory driver of control-heavy reward systems and organizational design.
• STORYSTEM: A workplace novel or satire anchored on a manager whose control architecture literally manufactures the shirking it was built to prevent.