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Coercion, Fear and Ebola

24 June, 2019 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

A frightening disease

There is an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Healthcare workers are desperately trying to contain the infection.

The first signs of the disease appear within a couple of weeks of infection. They include fever, headaches and sore throats.  Vomiting and diarrhoea follow, then internal and external bleeding and, for many, death. So far the virus has infected over 2,100 people and 1,400 have died. 

Ebola is a horrifically virulent disease. Fortunately it isn’t very contagious. Those who are ill with it are bed ridden, so don’t move about and the only way of it passing from human to human is via body fluids.  Consequently the disease doesn’t spread quickly.  The people most at risk are those who are caring for the sick; their family, doctors and nurses.

Luckily for most of us, Ebola outbreaks burn themselves out.  Though that is cold comfort for those caught in the midst of an epidemic.

Fighting the spread of infection.

In his book Factfulness, Hans Rosling (a professor of international health) points out that the infection only spreads geographically when people who are infected, but not yet showing symptoms, move from one village or town to another.  There are two ways to prevent this from happening:

  1. Soldiers: Draft in the army to quarantine the area.  Erect road blocks and start patrols to stop people moving in and out.
  2. Tracers: Specialist healthcare workers who trace everyone who has been in contact with the infected. Then, find them, isolate them and give them the best medical care available.

Conventional wisdom is that you should quarantine an area and contain the disease, but it doesn’t work. Knee jerk reactions, over zealous soldiers and draconian restrictions can make a bad situation worse.  People caught inside the quarantined area panic and go to great lengths to avoid the patrols and barriers. They run from the outbreak as far and as fast as they can. Precisely what the authorities don’t want to happen.

The alternative tracing solution is far more effective. Though it only works if the population trusts the authorities.  Which is a tall order if your village has been flooded with soldiers.

The sun and the wind

Like Aesop’s fable of the North Wind and the Sun, brute force and coercion rarely get you the best outcome.  Not if there is a scared human involved.

Something to remember when you are next compelling your staff to do something that they really do not want to do.

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Image via World Bank Photo Collection

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: command and control, fear and anxiety, human nature, motivation, perceived risk

About the Author

James Lawther
James Lawther

James Lawther is a middle-aged, middle manager.

To reach this highly elevated position he has worked in numerous industries, from supermarket retailing to tax collecting.  He has had several operational roles, including running the night shift in a frozen pea packing factory and carrying out operational research for a credit card company.

As you can see from his C.V. he has either a wealth of experience or is incapable of holding down a job.  If the latter is true this post isn’t worth a minute of your attention.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to read it and decide for yourself.

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