Set up to fail

Being set up to fail is a phrase denoting a no-win situation designed in such a way that the person in the situation cannot succeed at the task which they have been assigned. It is considered a form of workplace bullying. It is often cited as being perpetrated by management on employees, but there are also instances where the situation is reversed, or the employee self-directed the failure. It also is heavily referenced outside of business in sports, reality television, and other areas where it is felt the statement applies.

After being set up to fail, employees are blamed for failures that are in fact the fault of management - In Harvard Business Review, Manzoni and Barsoux, expanding on their earlier research, state: "But sometimes—and we would venture to say often—an employee’s poor performance can be blamed largely on his boss."

They also state that "set up to fail syndrome" "describes a dynamic in which employees perceived to be mediocre or weak performers live down to the low expectations their managers have for them." The triggers can be performance-based, or "less specific." They also explain the opposite pattern, where employees set up their bosses for failure, in an article written for MIT Sloan Management Review

An opinion column on CIO.com claimed that being set up for failure can happen because when one is "more qualified for a new job than the individuals with whom one is going to be working, one's mere presence can threaten them, they can conspire to make one's life miserable."

The phrase is often used in sports, especially by outside sports reporters speculating on issues that coaches may have with respect to the team ownership. A caller to the Washington, DC CBS radio program, speaking about the upcoming Washington Redskins season, theorized that "despite GM Scot McCloughan having been empowered with final say over personnel and reports that he is ready to move on from [Robert] Griffin, Snyder [the owner of the team]'s history of remaining loyal to star players past their prime would suggest Griffin will remain on the roster." Host Eric Bickel responded, "Dan, from what I’ve heard, is not a huge fan of [Redskins head coach] Jay[Gruden]. Okay? He doesn’t really have a lot of faith in Jay. He wanted to fire Jay last year. This season plays out poorly, and he’s going to fire Jay … then he’s going to have another opportunity to get his guy back in there.” This was cited as one of the factors in the tenure of Pete Carroll as head coach of the New England Patriots: "Because Carroll followed such an iconic figure in Parcells, those close to Carroll feel he never had a legitimate chance to succeed." It was also noted that "[l]ike Parcells, Carroll did not have control over assembling the 53-man roster."

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Wikipedia