How does fear of finding out (FOFO) impact you? FOFO is used to explain why some people are reluctant to investigate issues because it may reveal potential failures and lapses on their part. The perceived fallout or uncomfortable discussions create enough overwhelming emotion to drive this unproductive avoidance behavior.
Everyone experiences the fear of finding out. What is different is how each person handles their response to anxiety and the behaviors that follow. This article explores FOFO in the context of hesitance to analyze problems in life and business.
How does fear of finding out (FOFO) impact our lives?
Fear related to prior negative experiences creates a mental barrier that stops a person from understanding a problem because they're afraid of what they'll discover. Revealing the details of prior decisions can bring unfavorable information that requires action and challenges the comfort of the status quo. Understanding can make deniability difficult, for it may require action, potentially raising questions.
How does this show up in our daily lives? There are numerous things people avoid. Many of these may sound irrational, so what is your trigger?
- going to a doctor to seek a diagnosis for an illness
- keeping dentist appointments for dread of cavities and drilling their teeth
- stepping on the scale that would quantify the weight gain and force a lifestyle change
- postpone the evaluation of spending habits because buying things brings joy
When is the fear of finding out (FOFO) dangerous?
Within the business context, FOFO occurs when executives and managers are reluctant to seek information that may challenge their beliefs, decisions, or actions. Making decisions is the most important job of any executive. Their responsibility is to evaluate risk and reward to make decisions aligned to the mission of the business.
Poor decisions can damage businesses and careers. So why do so many lousy decisions occur?
In many cases, the failures can be traced back to the process used to make the decisions.
- the correct information was not collected
- the costs and benefits were not accurately weighed
- the alternatives were not clearly defined
There are times when the disconnect occurs not in the decision-making process but rather in the decision-maker's mind. Each of us has experienced situations in which decisions were made, and we wondered, "What are they thinking?" The way our brains work can sabotage our decisions.
Confronting hidden truths of past judgments can create tension and fear.
Complexity of Decisions
We use unconscious routines, known as heuristics, to reduce the complexity and effort in many decisions. These shortcut routines serve us well in many situations. We use heuristics to evaluate situations quickly instead of devoting time to thought-out deliberation.
The term heuristic is of Greek origin and means serving to find out or discover. Heuristics are efficient cognitive processes that ignore part of the information, conscious or unconscious. The goal of making judgments more quickly and frugally is consistent with effort reduction.
The psychological traps of quick judgments are especially dangerous for executives whose success hinges on the day-to-day decisions they make or approve of. They can undermine everything from,
- strategy for growth and expansion
- risk management for legal and regulatory compliance
- critical feedback for course correction of prior decisions
For managers' decisions, those quick choices can have lasting effects, such as
- negative impact on employee motivation
- reducing openness and trust
- diminish team cooperation
We cannot make wise decisions when the truth is buried under a mountain of FOFO misrepresentations. The good news is that anyone can learn to understand and compensate for the traps.
What can be done differently?
Do you rely on people to be honest about problems and concerns in your role within the company? FOFO may cause distorted feedback, as information is omitted to fit the person's viewpoint or agenda. These redirections can be time-consuming and expensive, as decisions are made based on the accuracy of the information presented.
Before making important decisions, you are wise to monitor two aspects of FOFO.
- First, your feelings and the desire to ignore potentially uncomfortable details.
- Then, there is an absence of essential information that would be expected.
Forcing a pause to consider the relevant information rather than assuming the necessary details are in place to proceed.
For example, a company was evaluating network upgrades from three different companies. Their team was initially focused on the purchase price and implementation costs. We noticed the absence of annual maintenance costs. Upon receiving the updated details, the vendor with the lowest purchase price had the highest total cost of ownership over five years. The difference was substantial, so they moved forward with the less expensive provider with better support coverage.
You can safely confront the depth of past decisions with courage from guidance.
The Balance of Better
There is a balance between the less-is-more and more-is-better approaches to information gathering for decisions. When diverse perspectives are integrated into the process, you may find the methods to reach a path forward in different situations more accurate.
For example, let's focus on a scenario where recognition of a failure event is critical to the operation of the business. If the people (stakeholders) can understand the conditions for the event and why that incident is vital to prevent, they can quickly eliminate options from consideration. The collaboration process holds space for speculation, prediction, and anticipation points of view.
Speculation is a gut feeling or guess about how something will happen. The names of the first five players in the first round of the next draft are speculation.
Prediction is based on patterns or prior knowledge. It is about foretelling the future outcome based on the result of the past execution. An example would be the weather forecast.
Anticipation is foretelling the future outcome based on factors considered and details ignored or overlooked. Netflix anticipated the shift toward online streaming and adapted its business model. Conversely, Blockbuster's leadership failed because of its reluctance to shift away from the physical rental model and its refusal to acquire Netflix.
Where do we go from here?
Spending more on IT than needed is rarely the best option. Companies waste thousands of dollars annually because the vendors selling to them withhold the information they need to make better decisions.
Inserting a different perspective into the process can open communication because the conversations are different. This eye-opening experience reveals essential details that were omitted or misunderstood.
Being truthful and forthcoming creates a foundation of trust that can be relied upon. This is important for healthy relationships, both personal and professional. We offer the objective truth for executives and managers concerned about IT spending.
- For those who have IT cost concerns.
- For those who need cost reduction results.
- For those expanding who want to reconsider their approach.
- For those who have not reevaluated IT expenses for 12 or more months.
The goal is to clear a path for informed debate about cost containment to fuel growth.
Your Next Step
The courage to act now will prevent setbacks for some and unemployment for others. Will you lead this IT cost containment effort, or do you need buy-in from other team members?
The cost containment evaluation aims to assess current IT spending. It starts with the capture and mapping process as a baseline to identify potential savings. Costs are allocated based on usage and then mapped to related revenue-generating processes. The structure of the cost containment evaluation is listed below.
- Objective: Gather data on up to 20 cost structures, spending patterns, and associated operational processes.
- Methods: Review how Finance categorizes IT costs, conduct interviews with stakeholders, and analyze contracts or vendor agreements.
- Duration: 2-4 weeks.
- Outcome: A report outlining current cost drivers, inefficiencies, and potential areas for cost reduction.
- Price: $1,500
Even if we try to be thoughtful, we may base our judgments on misrepresented details. Now is the time to take IT cost containment seriously. Click this link to purchase the evaluation today.