Fear FACTOR
Master’s Thesis, Lucia Tarbajovska

Berlin School of Creative Leadership
Master’s thesis
Theme: Fear Factor
Author: Lucia Tarbajovska, Class 2008 - 2009

implications of fear factor

implications of fear factor

implications of fear factor

implications of fear factor

implications of fear factor
organization

implications of fear factor
organization

implications of fear factor
organization

implications of fear factor
organization
industry

hypothesis
Fear to differentiate is the primary driver of
mediocrity for brands in the market.
As if brands lost their guts and courage to stand
out and stand for something crisp.

How to create
a fearless organization?

lack of differentiation
“2,500 brands we studied over three years time, where almost 70% were
stagnant or declining in differentiation”
“ Positioning guru Jack Trout and Kevin Clancyʼs research found that brand
differentiation declined in 40 of 46 categories as studied by Copernicus/
Market Facts.”
“Only 7% of prime time commercials were found to have differentiating
messages.”

lack of courage
Brands have increasing difficulty in
differentiating themselves.
The only way they can create a realizable
competitive advantage is by having a
distinctive point of view.
However stepping outside of the norms is
highly risky.
There is safety in being in the pack.
Courage means confronting the anxiety that
goes with difficult choices and then
committing to the ideas that ensue.

fearless leaders

brand prostitution
Sticker by Peter Saville, This is not a brothel, www.cpluv.com

familiarity and
fear
Aesop's Fables (1884), 21. The Fox and the Lion.

fearless cultures
source: http://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/bsad560/ source: http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/images/073/ua.gif
HofstedeUncertainityAvoidance.html

fearless org cultures
Four freedoms of DDB - Freedom from fear, Freedom to fail, Freedom from
chaos, Freedom to be.

gap between strategic & creative
Source: Marty Neumeier, Brand Gap

smell of fear
A recent study confirms presence of fear alarm center and alarm
pheromones in the olfactory system.
Grueneberg ganglion at the tip of a nose contains olfactory
neurons with some specialized chemosensory functions.
Source: Julien Brechbühl, Magali Klaey and Marie Broillet from University of Lausanne, Science in August 2008

research

a word on research
• methodology - quantitative, qualitative
• sample size - cca 50 respondents
• interviews
• self-study
• errors - ambiguity of fear

impact of fear
on creativity

I. fear influencing creativity

II. positive vs. negative influence of fear on
creativity

III. positive influence of fear on creativity

IV. negative influence of fear on
creativity

v. sources of fear in creativity

impact of fear
on leader

leading yourself, employees and partners
yes
no
34,5% leader
67,3%
36,4% employees, teams
67,3%
40,0%
leading leading
employees & teams suppliers & partners

impact of fear
on organization

I. influence of fear on organization

II. influence of fear on vision &
innovation

iii. pretesting of products
always
sometimes
never

V. Criteria of p retesting
p roducts

vi. positive business case only

impact of fear
on industry

influence of fear on industry

How to create
a fearless organization?

Qualities of Fearless leaders

Qualities of Fearless leaders
challengers
create religion
blue ocean
making tough calls love ideas
fearless original zig zag
listeners
customer centric
Gods
love crisis
enterpreneurstrend setters adventurous
mavericks
out of the box
corageous focused competitive lone dissenters
create religion independent loving novelty
distinctive visionary
passionate provocateurs

10 freedoms from fear

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.
4. Stop the brand prostitution.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.
4. Stop the brand prostitution.
5. Use your nose to smell the fear.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.
4. Stop the brand prostitution.
5. Use your nose to smell the fear.
6. Do you really need to test?

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.
4. Stop the brand prostitution.
5. Use your nose to smell the fear.
6. Do you really need to test?
7. Middle is trouble.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.
4. Stop the brand prostitution.
5. Use your nose to smell the fear.
6. Do you really need to test?
7. Middle is trouble.
8. Linear thinking is predictable.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.
4. Stop the brand prostitution.
5. Use your nose to smell the fear.
6. Do you really need to test?
7. Middle is trouble.
8. Linear thinking is predictable.
9. Familiar is dangerous.

10 freedoms from fear
1. Keep it low.
2. Create culture free from fear.
3. Find your own tribe/s.
4. Stop the brand prostitution.
5. Use your nose to smell the fear.
6. Do you really need to test?
7. Middle is trouble.
8. Linear thinking is predictable.
9. Familiar is dangerous.
10. Have no set rules.

Fear Factor

Fear Factor

FEAR FACTOR

FEAR FACTOR