The Tyranny of the Average The Procrustean Syndrome and the Threat to Organizational Excellence

The Tyranny of the Average The Procrustean Syndrome and the Threat to Organizational Excellence

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Drawing on the myth of Procrustes, this chapter examines how organizations can slip into a “tyranny of the average" where standing out becomes risky. We conceptualize Procrustean Syndrome as a leadership pattern grounded in intolerance of difference and upward comparison: a leader's fear of being professionally surpassed drives attempts to force people, ideas, and performance to fit a rigid "should be." Rather than reducing the phenomenon to individual pathology alone, we argue that Procrustean power depends on an enabling ecology that includes targets who threaten the imposed limits and a circle of spectators or favored actors who protect the status quo. We synthesize the most visible mechanisms through which Procrustean leadership operates: constant criticism and systematic undervaluation, reputational attacks and hate speech, appropriation of ideas without credit, information withholding, exclusion from networks and decision arenas, micromanagement, and the obstruction of training, projects, and promotion. Over time, these practices erode trust, psychological safety, and internal cohesion, creating hostile climates linked to stress, burnout, anxiety, bullying, mobbing, and demotivation. For organizations, the costs appear as weakened employer branding, innovation loss, absenteeism, turnover, and the normalization of disengagement and "quiet quitting." This chapter also positions internal public relations and strategic communication (working alongside human resource management) as the organizational "Theseus" able to detect and reverse Procrustean dynamics (Figure 12.1). We propose a pragmatic toolkit for early identification (such as annual climate surveys, 360-degree evaluations, pulse checks, qualitative audits, turnover analysis, and signals from employee-review platforms) and a prevention framework that integrates the "No Asshole Rule” (Sutton, 2010) and Happiness Management. The recommended approach emphasizes transparent two-way communicаtion, safe reporting channels, leadership training in soft skills, empowerment and autonomy, and recognition systems that reward merit and collaboration, restoring conditions for sustainable excellence.

ISBN

978-1-041-30452-4

Publication Date

9-2026

First Page

197

Last Page

210

Publisher

Routledge

City

Londres

Language

eng

Rights

restricted access

The Tyranny of the Average The Procrustean Syndrome and the Threat to Organizational Excellence

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