"This book should be read by everyone who has anything to do with managing organizations. It is soundly based in history, the literature and personal experience. Keegan not only describes and explains the increase of fear in organizations but also suggests how to reduce it so that everyone can be happier and more productive."
(Emeritus Professor Malcolm Haper
Cranfield University)
"This is a valuable book that brings together a lot of information and insight, and it will be useful to researchers, educators, and evidence-based practitioners alike."
(David Yamada
Minding the Workplace)
"This is a digestible, erudite and impassioned consideration of where we are in the modern world of work and where we might look for ways to make the future more enjoyable and productive."
(Peter Llewellyn
Consultant in people management and workplace mediator)
Business psychologists; organizational change management professionals; HR professionals
"Sheila Keegan provides a wide-ranging and incisive treatment of this very taboo subject. She questions many current organization practices, including goal setting, and shows how these can easily result in fear and dysfunctional performance. The practical approaches she provides for reducing fear in organizations will provide real value to managers and HR professionals alike."
(Michael Wellin
Director at Business Transformation consultants)
"Whatever the root of fear at the workplace, high-quality leadership -- which sees employees as humans, trusts them to be professional and empowers them -- seems to be necessary to ensure that such fear does not compromise innovation and productivity. I hope that leaders of academic/corporate organizations read this book and ponder about the environments they are creating at the workplace."
(Professor Ranjini Swamy
Goa Institute of Management)
"This book is a very accessible exploration of important organisational phenomena that usually attract very little attention. The author draws our attention to the strong link between fear and control, arguing that fear is rooted in the modern obsession with control. This book is essential reading for anyone who takes organisational improvement seriously."
(Professor Ralph Stacey
University of Hertfordshire)
"This book is a major contribution to productivity. Why? Because fear is the number one enemy of creativity and without creativity there is no innovation. The anxious mind is rigid and limited as it seeks to solve problems in more or less the same way, time and time again. How can that be good for business?"
(Chris Welford
Director of Sixth Sense Consulting)
