As an executive coach working with leaders and teams, I’m concerned about a troubling trend I’ve been running into more often.
The drive to protect jobs and headcount. It’s a deeply human instinct in uncertain times and is colliding with the need for bold new ideas. Instead of championing innovation, some leaders are quietly, deliberately blocking it because they see change as a threat to their status or survival.
The Innovation Paradox
Recently, I’ve coached senior leaders who came to the table with rigorous, thoughtful approaches. Some had been working on solutions for over a year. Their presentations had been curated thoughtfully and meticulously. They championed strategic initiatives with peers and aligned their ideas to company strategic goals. They were able to provide and present the roadmap and cost savings, only to find their proposal stalled at the table.
They were shocked.
What could be getting in the way of moving forward? No one was going to lose their jobs.
These ideas advance the companies. They propel them into the future.
Yet if that idea threatens a peer’s influence or disrupts the existing headcount structure, it risks getting buried before it ever reaches decision-makers.
This isn’t instinctive hesitation. It’s calculated avoidance: strategies designed to stall progress, keep things as they are, and protect personal standing rather than the organization’s future. And in doing so, companies end up sabotaging themselves, trading long-term innovation for short-term self-preservation.
Why does this happen?
Years ago, I was in a training exercise that perfectly illustrates the dynamic. Our group was asked to lift a long wooden stick together. Each person could only use two fingers — sounds simple, right? Then we were told to do it without talking. Suddenly, what should have been easy collaboration became a silent power struggle. People tried to lead, others resisted, and the stick kept falling.
With no words, only unspoken ideas, we struggled until finally; after acknowledging the tension, we were able to lift the stick as equals. Balanced. Together. If we can solve a physical problem through shared effort, why can’t we do the same with our best strategic solutions? Why do we let fear block forward movement?
The Scarcity Side of Fear
At the core of this pattern is fear—specifically the scarcity side of fear. When leaders feel their job, influence, or headcount is at risk, they may choose self-preservation over company success.
In these situations, leaders aren’t just defending turf; they’re protecting identity and security.
- Fear of layoffs or shrinking budgets.
- Fear of losing reputation or credibility.
- Fear of losing control over people or resources.
Psychologists call this a status threat: when someone perceives that change diminishes their standing in the hierarchy. Layer on a scarcity mindset where a leader holds the belief that opportunity is finite, and blocking becomes an act of survival.
What if, instead, we treated the change like that stick exercise? No one leaves the room until we work it out—together. Create a growth mindset where the advancement of the company is more important than protecting territory.
The Messy Middle We Avoid
At ARTiculate: Real&Clear, we talk often about the human tendency to either avoid or attack when faced with friction. The real power lies in the messy middle. This is the space where conversation, curiosity, and collaboration happen.
And what I see in corporate cultures today is elaborate avoidance. Conversations that never happen. Meetings where ideas are praised on the surface but quietly shelved afterward. A culture that rewards safety over progress. This is dangerous. Because conversation, especially diverse, friction-filled conversation, is the lifeblood of any healthy company.
The Cost of Silence
When new ideas are shut down at the senior or mid-leadership level, the organization pays a steep price:
- Lost innovation: Great ideas never see daylight.
- Stagnant culture: People learn it’s safer to stay quiet than to share bold
thinking. - Eroded trust: Teams feel divided, watching politics win over purpose.
Harvard Business Review reports that companies with high psychological safety are more innovative and resilient; without it, employees withhold ideas. McKinsey found that organizations that prioritize collaboration and candor outperform peers by 20–30% in revenue growth.
I’ve watched talented people leave organizations because they got tired of seeing their best thinking disappear into bureaucratic black holes. The cost isn’t just the lost ideas. It’s the loss of innovative people who decide to take their creativity elsewhere.
Championing Ideas Without Destroying Trust
So how do we shift this dynamic? How do you put forward ideas that threaten the status quo without becoming the enemy of those who fear change?
Here’s where language matters. Not every “no” is an underminer. Sometimes a challenger is actually a gardener—someone who pushes, questions, and shapes an idea so it can grow stronger. They are like gold to our organizations. They see the potential threats and share their opinions.
But underminers? They’re different. They resist change because it threatens them personally. Underminers are the individuals that aren’t acknowledging the conversation. There isn’t a desire to hear the possible solution. They’re not in dialogue. And if undermining becomes a pattern in our culture, it shuts down your brightest thinkers. When patterns like this form, morale and innovative thinking wither. People begin to think: This is never going to change until so-and-so leaves—or until it’s too late for new solutions.
So how can we prepare individuals for these higher stakes conversations so that they remain open? Here are a few suggestions:
- Strategic transparency: Name the potential threat openly. Acknowledge that change will shift responsibilities or roles.
- Reframe the stakes: Position the idea as bigger than headcount—about the success of the whole company, not individual turf.
- Invite underminers into the process: Instead of pushing past resistance, engage it. Ask, “What would make this idea work for you, too?”
- Build alliances early: Don’t wait until you’re in front of executives. Bring peers into the conversation before fear sets in.
When All Else Fails
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, strategic innovation keeps getting blocked. When that happens, you have choices:
- Name the reality: If ideas are consistently buried, call it out. “It feels like we’re having a different conversation than the one on the surface. What are we really concerned about here?”
- Pick your battles: Not every idea is worth burning capital over. Decide which innovations are must-fight-for versus wait-for-a-better-moment.
- Shift the system: If undermining becomes a pattern, it’s no longer about one idea. It points to deeper cultural issues that need addressing.
The Call to Courage
The future belongs to leaders willing to face the scarcity side of fear, invite challengers into the messy middle, and cultivate a culture of fruitful friction. If you’re leading today, you can’t just focus on protecting your own role. You need to protect your company’s future—and that means being willing to champion ideas that might disrupt the status quo, including your own.
I’ve seen organizations transform when leaders get brave enough to have real conversations about innovation and job security. Instead of letting fear drive decisions underground, they bring it into the light where it can be addressed constructively. Remember that stick-lifting exercise? We eventually succeeded, but only after we acknowledged the unspoken competition and agreed to truly work together. The same principle applies to organizational innovation: Success requires honest conversation about what everyone’s really afraid of losing.
The question for you is this:
What innovation or strategic initiative in your company is being quietly blocked right now, and what would happen if you had the courage to champion it forward?
If you want to learn more about shifting this in your company or team, give us a call. We call this Fruitful Friction® .
Dr. Robin Miller, PCC is our Executive and Leadership Communication Coach. She specializes in team interpersonal communication and executive communication using the Advanced 360LiC Assessment. Contact ARTiculate: Real & Clear today to learn more.
