Chapter 2

The Yellow Brick Road:

Getting Stuck In The Victim Cycle

Introduction:

Chapter 2 begins with a story about Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin-man, and the Cowardly Lion walking, on
their way to some unknown place. They walked for days and saw nothing but scarlet fields ahead of
them. Each member of the group began to grumble; the Scarecrow because he would not receive his
brains, the Cowardly Lion because he would not receive courage, and the Tin-man because he would not
receive his heart. It didnt take long before Dorothy, the self-proclaimed leader of the group, to also
lose hope and just sit down and look at her companions. Even Toto lost the courage to move on, as he
stuck out his tongue, and looked at Dorothy as if to ask what are we going to do now?

Victimization has infected so much of our world, from small, inconsequential acts to life-destroying
abuses, that it affects us all each and every day. Pg. 19

Ironically, there is an ounce of truth to in our excuses! We all have mitigating circumstances that stand
in our way giving us good reason to fail. But, when we use our excuses to Stay below the Line, we miss
the opportunity to rise above ourselves, our circumstances and our limitations, no matter who bears the
blame.

Beware of the Victim Cycle

GE debacle:

Had an option to either buy abroad or build compressors.

They opted to build and hired a chief designer, John Truscott to build a team to start designing
the new rotary compressors.
Truscott presented his findings to Jack Welch, CEO of the company, and Welch authorized the
construction of a $120 million factory.
All directors gave full approval to the decision!
One year later thousands of the compressors failed and were recalled.
The problem: The use of powdered metal instead of hardened steel or cast iron.
GE decides to drop the new compressor in favor of the foreign models.
This cost them $450 million to resolve the fiasco.

Victim Cycle:

They overlooked the earlier problems with the rotary compressor technology.
 Japanese companies had already experienced severe difficulties with rotary compressors, but no
one at GE could recall that fact.
Once the failure of the compressors became clear, they began to point fingers.
Engineers were afraid to tell their boss the bad news.
They didnt want to let the schedule slip.
They decided to Wait and See what happens.
They didnt think that anything really bad could happen because they were GE!

The Line Between Victimization & Accountability

Imagine a line between accountability and victimization that separates rising above your circumstances
to get the results you want and falling into the victim cycle where you can easily get stuck.

Everyones a victim

Maintenance worker suing the fast food joints because he says their deceptive marketing
practices ultimately made him fat!
5 foot 10 and 272 had 2 heart attacks, and has diabetes.
He ate fast food for 30 years and says he didnt know that fast food was bad for him until he
suffered 2 heart attacks.
People and organizations operating Below The Line consciously or unconsciously avoid
accountability for results.

How to recognize when youre Below The Line

Feedback from an objective person, a trusted friend or spouse to help you see that you are falling Below
The Line.

How does it feel: pg 23 & 24

Captive by your own circumstances

Lack any control over situation
You stop listening redirection and refuse help
Blame others and point fingers
You focus and discuss what you cannot do rather what you can do
Fail to confront the toughest issues you face
Your sought out by so they can tell you what someone else did to them this time

Common stages of the Victim Cycle

1. Ignore/Deny People pretend not to know there is a problem or choose to deny the problem all
together. Read paragraph on bottom of page 25. (Pink Line)
 70 80% of graduating MBA students leave their 1st job within the 1st twelve months of
school because they cannot function effectively in a real world environment, get along
with people, and fit into a companys culture.
Pretending not to know or ignoring the problem will keep you Below The Line and
impair your ability to get results.
2. Its not my job this stage reflects awareness that something needs to be done to get the
result, coupled with an acute avoidance of getting involved.
Companies pay a hefty price with employees who either refuse or are afraid to jump in
and take accountability to get results.
3. Finger-Pointing in this stage of the victim cycle people deny their own responsibility for poor
results and seek to shift the blame to others.
The furniture store who blames the shipping company for damaged goods.
Ultimately it is the manufacturer of the goods who holds the brunt of the responsibility.
We cannot blame teachers without first taking the blame ourselves and vice versa.
4. Confusion/Tell Me What To Do At this stage people cite confusion as a way of alleviating
themselves of their accountability.
Two kinds of coaches that will hinder progress 1) Those who wont do what you tell
them to do. 2) Those who will only do what you tell them to do. Zoe Simpson
We all have to be willing to take some constructive criticism when warranted. Not
personal attacks.

People display three ego states of the child:

1) The Natural Child Does what they want to do, and not what they dont want to do.
2) The Compliant Child Do what the boss tells them to do (Did what I was told!).
3) The Rebellious Child Find out what the boss wants them to do, and then outright
defy it while blaming the boss for negative consequences.
5. Cover Your Tail Craft elaborate stories as to why they couldnt possibly be blamed for
something that might be wrong.
Cover Your Tail people Document everything
Send emails as a paper trail.
They always have an alibi..
6. Wait and See The wait-and-see stage of the victim cycle often becomes a sinkhole where
possible solutions get swallowed up in a swamp of inaction.
These are the teachers who try and wait out new policies and procedures to see if they
are going to stick.
They wait to implement Best Practices claiming they are only a fad and will soon pass.

Stuck in the victim cycle

Mikes Story:

Mike was driven and had a track record of success.

 He accepted a promotion with his company opting to take on new challenges.
By the end of his first year, Mike had begun to feel frustrated and feared he might fail.
He invited a supervisor to lunch with him and asked for some honest feedback of peoples
perceptions of his impact on the company.
The employees felt: He was in over his head. He didnt make a difference. Hes not doing
anything to increase quality Not communicating clearly.. etc.. pg. 34

Mike was in his feelings:

After hearing the bad news, Mike was really frustrated.

He thought about leaving and going back to his old job.
He felt as though he was not the blame for the companies rough year.
He believed that he didnt create the issues that the company faced, but he was charged with
fixing them.

Getting Unstuck:

Mike met an old friend who challenged him to look at his dilemma differently.
He challenged him to take responsibility and not play the victim.
He encouraged him to find solutions to his problems and not look for the easy way out.
Mike needed to take control over his future.
Mike had to be accountable for his companies results.

Burn the ships!

When Alexanders army reached the coast of what is now called India, he ordered his men to burn their
ships. When the men hesitated at such a shocking order, Alexander responded, Were either going home
in their ships or not going home at all.

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE MUST TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY

UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS OK TO BE IN THE VICTIM CYCLE FROM TIME TO TIME BECAUSE WE
ARE ONLY HUMAN, AND ITS OK TO FEEL A LITTLE SCARED OF THE POSSIBLILTY OF FAILURE.
WE MUST OVERCOME FEAR TO GET RESULTS