How many times does a project stop because someone at the top fears losing control? We don’t call it fear; We call it prudence, stability, “taking care of what is built.” But behind those words a simpler emotion usually hides: that of not wanting to look at what can change everything.
For years I have audited organizations of all sizes—public and private—and the scene repeats itself: perfect dashboards, zero incidents, impeccable presentations. Everything looks in order, except for one detail: nothing improves. McKinsey confirmed this in its Global Survey: 70% of transformations fail and the main reason is not technical, it is human. The plans exist; What is missing is the courage to apply them.
W. Edwards Demingthe father of modern quality, said it half a century ago: “expel fear”. Where there is fear, there is no reliable data; and where there is no reliable data, there are no valid decisions. Corporate fear is the most expensive virus: it paralyzes, distorts and contaminates the truth. Google He demonstrated it in his famous Project Aristotle. The most successful teams were not the brightest, but those that could talk about the mistake without being punished. They called it psychological safety. In simple words: if an employee is afraid to tell the truth, the company has already lost.
Examples abound. Kodak invented the digital camera, but hid it so as not to affect the film business. He didn’t lose to technology; he lost against his own fear. Wells Fargoinstead, used fear as a method: pressure, impossible goals, and thousands of employees falsifying accounts for fear of being fired. Result: 5,300 layoffs, historic sanctions and destroyed reputation.
And yet, the phenomenon is repeated in governments, banks, hospitals and SMEs. Logos change, not emotions. Leaders who fear losing control end up losing credibility.
In Latin America, where the hierarchical culture continues to weigh, fear is an institutional obstacle: authority is confused with infallibility. And so, continuous improvement becomes talk, not practice.
ISO standards were born for the opposite. ISO 9001 requires visible leadership, ISO 27001 calls for responsibility in the face of risk and ISO 37001 demands integrity from the top. They are not papers: they are agreements so that decisions are based on evidence, not egos. If management is not committed, the system is useless.
In each audit I see the same thing: indicators that say nothing, decisions without traceability, audits that do not bother. Not out of malice, but out of fear. Fear of what can change the photo of comfort. And yet, well-led change liberates.
Prosci, a leader in change management, summarizes it in a simple formula: when the executive sponsor is visible and active, the probability of success is multiplied by three. When it is symbolic, the message is clear: “this is optional.” Fear, when you look at it, is not the enemy. It is the mirror that shows what we do not want to lose. But if we don’t confront him, he ends up running the company from the shadows.
Leading is not controlling: it is creating the conditions so that the truth reaches the top without being punished.
Auditing is not pointing out errors; It is to accompany organizations to look at themselves without fear. Because in the end, the true indicator of quality is not in the manual, but in the management’s ability to listen to what is uncomfortable.
*Fernando Arrieta, Regional Director of G-CERTI Global Certification.
by Fernando Arrieta
