Kiss up kick down is a
neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
used to describe the situation where middle-level employees in an organization are polite and
flattering to superiors but
abusive to subordinates.
[Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry Transcript - day 103 - 21 June 2011]
/ref> The term is believed to have originated in the US, with the first documented use having occurred in 1993. The concept can be applied to any social interaction where one person believes they have power over another person and believes that another person has power over them.[Calum Paton The Policy of NHS Deficits and NHS Re-form in Health Policy and Politics 2007][JJ Mearsheimer, D Shaple]
MCNAMARA'S WAR
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 00963402, Jul/Aug93, Vol.49, Issue 6
Examples of use
The ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' described Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...
, an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...
, as a classic case of the "kiss up, kick down" personality in August 1993.[
On day 2 of the Senate confirmation hearings, April 12, 2005, for ]John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...
, a Bush nomination for the US representative to the UN, the Senate panel focused on allegations that Bolton pressured intelligence analysts. Former State Department intelligence chief Carl W. Ford Jr. characterized Bolton as a "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy".
Calum Paton, Professor of Health Policy at Keele University
Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...
, has described "kiss up kick down" as a prevalent feature of the UK National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
culture. He raised this point when giving evidence at the Stafford Hospital scandal public inquiry in 2011, saying that credit was centralised and blame devolved: "Kiss up kick down means that your middle level people will kiss-up, they will please their masters, political or otherwise, and they will kick down to blame somebody else when things go wrong."[
]
Blame in organizations
The flow of blame
Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, or making negative statements about an individual or group that their actions or inaction are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible fo ...
in an organization
An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...
may be a primary indicator of that organization's robustness and integrity. Blame flowing downwards, from management to staff, or laterally between professionals or partner organizations, indicates organizational failure. In a blame culture, problem-solving is replaced by blame avoidance. Confused roles and responsibilities also contribute to a blame culture. Blame coming from the top generates "fear, malaise, errors, accidents, and passive-aggressive
Passive-aggressive behavior is characterized by a pattern of passive hostility and an avoidance of direct communication. Inaction where some action is socially customary is a typical passive-aggressive strategy (showing up late for functions, s ...
responses from the bottom", with those at the bottom feeling powerless and lacking emotional safety. Employees have expressed that organizational blame culture made them fear prosecution for errors, accidents and thus unemployment, which may make them more reluctant to report accidents, since trust is crucial to encourage accident reporting. This makes it less likely that weak indicators of safety threats get picked up, thus preventing the organization from taking adequate measures to prevent minor problems from escalating into uncontrollable situations. Several issues identified in organizations with a blame culture contradicts high reliability organizations best practices.
Kick up kiss down
''Kick up kiss-down'' has been suggested as a viable more healthy dynamic.[Harvey Schachter (Jul. 25 2011]
Kicking up, kissing down
The Globe and Mail Blame flowing upwards in a hierarchy, Weinberg argues, proves that superiors can take responsibility for their orders to their inferiors, and supply them with the resources required to do their jobs.[
]
See also
* Bullying culture
* Carrot and stick
The phrase "carrot and stick" is a metaphor for when two different methods of incentivisation are simultaneously employed; the "carrot", referring to the promising and giving of desired rewards in exchange for cooperation; and the "stick", refe ...
* Culture of fear
Culture of fear (or climate of fear) is the concept which describes the pervasive feeling of fear in a given group, often due to actions taken by leaders. The term was popularized by Frank Furedi and has been more recently popularized by the A ...
* Displaced aggression
Displaced aggression, also referred to as redirected aggression, occurs when an animal or human is fearful or agitated by external stimuli, a provocation, or perception, but is unable or unwilling to direct their aggression toward the stimulu ...
* Kick the cat
* Managing up and managing down
* Mushroom management
Mushroom management is the management of a company where the communication channels between the employers and the employees do not work effectively, and where employees are 'kept in the dark' by management in regards to business decisions that ...
* Occupational health psychology
Occupational health psychology (OHP) is an interdisciplinary area of psychology that is concerned with the health and safety of workers.Schonfeld, I.S., & Chang, C.-H. (2017). ''Occupational health psychology: Work, stress, and health''. New York ...
* Toxic workplace
A “toxic workplace” is a colloquial metaphor used to describe a place of work, usually an office environment, that is marked by significant personal conflicts between those who work there. A toxic work environment has a negative impact on an o ...
References
External links
* John Baldoni Aug 28, 201
John Baldoni: Kiss Up Kick Down Boss
* Eileen Beal Jan 20, 201
Kiss Up, Kick Down: Is a Bully at Work? Career Management
* Max McKeown Apr 22, 200
Kissing up, kicking down
Management Issues
{{Bullying
1993 neologisms
Abuse
English phrases
Management
Metaphors
Neologisms
Organizational culture
Occupational stress
Workplace harassment and bullying