Don’t Let Fear of Failure Keep You From Success

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Good point, Daniel. All environments are definitely not created equal.
On the positive side, few situations are set in stone. If someone finds him or herself in a "high-3-W" situation and they're living in constant fear of doing something wrong, that just might be a good sign that they need to start taking steps toward something different.
There's no cookie cutter solution, of course. It could dramatic, like a new career (which is where the people I work with are typically focused), or less drastic, like doing the same work in a less rigidly bureaucratic organization.
It might also mean staying put and identifying another part of the organization that is less beset with bureacracy (if there is one), or working to get more adept at playing politics to create the space for some degree of risk.
And of course, for those with a bit of rabble-rousing in their blood, it could mean staying put and instigating a cultural revolution. ;-)

Curt Rosengren of WA 3:52PM July 17, 2008

The less anyone has to live in a bureaucracy with concerns about what Corporal Klinger (M.A.S.H) called the three W's---what to kiss, who's to kiss, and when to kiss it---the more likely he or she is to being able to take this advice and run with it.

Daniel David of NM 11:57AM July 17, 2008