Dream Fear: Learned Helplessness To enable enterprises to thrive, entrepreneurs should first become seekers of dreams. However, many entrepreneurs are stuck in a state of dream fear, not because they lack dreams, but because the contrast between lush dreams and stark reality is striking. Jack Ma, during the early days of establishing his business, was plagued by countless investment rejections and experienced such inner turmoil. One business owner described his feelings as follows: “After a long time of unfulfilled dreams, whenever someone comes up with a new idea or goal, I feel like I can’t breathe.” Psychologists have proposed the theory of “learned helplessness” from experiments with animals, referring to dogs that, after countless attempts, fail to escape their cages despite their struggles and, even when the cage door is open, do not attempt to escape but rather lie down trembling and whining, waiting for the shock to come. Similarly, when people persistently feel a lack of accomplishment at work, they may lose the will to make an effort and their passion for work, even beginning to question their self-worth. Many entrepreneurs suffering from dream fear are largely in this state due to learned helplessness. To break this predicament, the most direct method is to experience success repeatedly, just like engaging in computer games that progress from simple to difficult, maintaining enthusiasm. Setting simple small goals and breaking down complex larger goals into more easily managed sub-goals allows the experience of “small successes” to gradually achieve grand dreams. It is this mindset that drove Jack Ma to call out to his staff at Alibaba with the appeal, “If not now, when? If I don’t do it, who will?”
Fear of Failure: Narcissistic Personality The fear of failure deeply rooted in many entrepreneurs is closely related to narcissism. In the face-saving culture of China, the issue of face for entrepreneurs is particularly prominent. Narcissistic entrepreneurs tend to pursue expansion and rapid growth. Many who have studied abroad and returned to start a business often choose dignified and upscale industries, hence the chances of success are not high. They appear strong on the surface but are fragile within; narcissism transforms their hidden fears into self-protection. When managing teams, they act rigid and apprehensive, eager to display charm and a strong image to gain the recognition of followers; they set extremely high standards for themselves and others, willing to personally solve all problems to maintain their self-esteem. In decision-making, they overly consider external evaluations and fear the adverse outcomes competition in the market might bring, leading to an emotional urgency to succeed immediately. Once they sense that results may not be as expected, they become overly evaluative, leading to slow or overly cautious decision-making, and unwilling to put forth corresponding effort and investment. In essence, these entrepreneurs are overly arrogant in prosperity and overly self-deprecating in adversity. The key to changing this leadership behavior is to transform the evaluation of others into self-evaluation, and orient the motivation for achievement towards the pursuit of self-awareness. Those who indulge in tackling tough problems and enjoy overcoming project challenges can boost their self-awareness, finding endless enjoyment in the process of acquiring knowledge, overcoming challenges, and self-improvement.
Change and Fear: The Lack of Creativity
The fear of change is often closely linked to a lack of creativity. When people discuss the creative geniuses in the business world, we might mistakenly think they all possess extraordinary intelligence. However, creativity and intelligence are fundamentally two different modes of thinking. High creativity means divergent thinking; it represents exploring answers from multiple dimensions and approaches to solve problems. In contrast, high intelligence is characterized by focused thinking, drawing conclusions from known information, and finding the single correct answer.
Those adept at change often have a close relationship with high creativity, but this does not mean they also have high intelligence. Take Jack Ma as an example; he often jokes about his average intelligence, having never received education from a top-tier university and even attended ordinary schools during his elementary and secondary schooling, yet he has extremely high creativity. Like Steve Jobs, a person typical of high creativity, he was unconcerned with trivial matters, and possessed strong aesthetic sense, independence, and energy, but may have faced challenges in building deep social connections and emotions. In contrast, those with high IQs are skilled at logical analysis and orderly information processing and might find themselves overwhelmed during corporate changes due to an overemphasis on feasibility and correctness.
Change is not just a numbers game or merely a public relations spectacle, but rather an action daring to challenge conventional authority and subvert routine analysis. For those with high intelligence, this is a difficult puzzle. Recognizing this difference between creativity and intelligence can help us understand why there are so few creative enterprises in China. The social system and family education tend to praise high intelligence. People who can quickly give the correct answer during their school years, as well as those with strong social adaptability, are more likely to become the backbone of society. And when these intelligent individuals become rule makers, how much freedom and space can creative people enjoy? Therefore, the realization of change has already transcended individual capabilities; it requires us to rethink and even reshape the entire social environment and values.
Many business leaders hope to find a method that satisfies both old and new products or systems. This strategy is especially common among people with high IQs, but because they care too much about satisfying both sides, they often end up falling short of both objectives, and even reversing priorities. However, when high creativity is combined with high intelligence, it becomes true wisdom—the crystallization of experience and knowledge. True leaders should have such wisdom, a vision and magnanimity that includes respect for creativity. This kind of wisdom can foster entirely new methods and solutions. Though initially they may seem imperfect, expensive, or against tradition, they will ultimately lead to innovation and change, making it more than just a fleeting call, technological innovation, or incentive policy, but a stance and mission deeply embedded in the hearts of managers and most people.
The Fear of Interpersonal Relationships: The Lack of Self-Boundaries
For Chinese entrepreneurs, one of the hardest fears to overcome is the concern over interpersonal relationships. Many business leaders, like Jack Ma, often emphasize the importance of “loyalty” in their talent management philosophies or core values. This desire for loyalty is, in fact, an expression of the fear of interpersonal relationships. While loyalty is undoubtedly a reflection of an admirable quality, upon closer inspection, the true need behind many leaders may be for obedience to directives, a blind following of orders, which reveals a hidden dependence on interpersonal relationships. This dependency is similar to the modern person’s dependence on smartphones, constantly checking for likes after posting instant messages, which reveals deep layers of interpersonal fear.
In the management styles of many leaders, there often exists an invisible emotional barrier that makes it difficult for them to achieve transparent communication with their employees. They evaluate employees based on some vague emotions—such as “loyalty”—rather than clear ability and performance standards. This kind of management attitude originates mainly from two types of internal fear scripts. Firstly, one fear mentality is “I must continuously prove my intelligence and capability”, causing leaders to spend a lot of time convincing dissenters and over-scrutinizing details. Secondly, another fear mentality manifests as “I cannot show too much emotion in public”, so as not to appear vulnerable, hence leaders often hide their true emotions, lack genuine appreciation for others’ work, and fail to establish deep personal connections with team members.
Furthermore, the interpersonal fear faced by Chinese entrepreneurs stems from the profound “maternal culture” of China. The long-standing interpersonal anxiety in Chinese society is not an isolated phenomenon, but is rooted in its cultural traditions. The self-identity of the Chinese is deeply influenced by the image of the mother, to the extent that many people find it difficult to distinguish between personal ambitions and maternal expectations. According to observations by Lin Yutang, the puns, concreteness, and imagery in the Chinese language reflect some of the feminine mental characteristics common to Chinese people, such as high attachment, sociability, and skillful use of tactics.
These characteristics also affect the business management ideas of Chinese entrepreneurs. They tend to believe that success depends on a vast network of interpersonal relationships. Influenced by this maternal culture, they may place more emphasis on interpersonal relationships rather than the quality of the product or service itself. However, as the astronomer Galileo said: “You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself.” In the face of inner fears, we should not shrink back, but should bravely recognize and face them. This deep self-awareness will enable us to rely on each individual’s unique qualities and ultimately overcome these fears.
