Sorry for the medicalization, an annoying legacy in my brain from many years of diagnosing and prescribing.
Unlike many other ills, autoimmune diseases are generated by our own bodies. Our immune system, in charge of fighting external invaders, gets is wrong and fights your own defences. You are caught into your own friendly fire. You are attacking yourself. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel syndrome, etc. You name it.
In our organizations, we have our own autoimmune diseases. Employees fight colleagues and leaders, the Unions fight management, people fight the systems they have created, HR fight disengagements blaming the disengaged. So many things look and feel as self-inflicted pain. It’s often a war place, not a workplace. With lots of war-shops instead of work-shops.
If there is a long way, we will take it, a leader told me recently. They are fighting their own simplicity.
In my experience, the worse affected by the auto-immune mechanism, are industries that are ‘very regulated’. I work with ‘very regulated industries’ all the time, pharmaceuticals, finance, banking etc. There is nothing in any regulation that says you have to take 30 days and involve 30 people to make a decision when you can do it with 3 people in 30 days. Nothing. Zero. But the ‘we are a regulated industry’ kicks in all the time.
It’s self-inflicted pain as a symptom of their own autoimmune diseases.
They are fighting their own body.
And unfortunately these conditions are chronic