Breaking the cycle of a doom loop at work

Most of us have likely encountered a ‘doom loop’ before but have never realised it, or at the very least, have never been able to put a name to the situation. And yet it’s an all-too-common scenario that has put many businesses to the sword, while still being preventable.

What is a doom loop?

• A doom loop is a negative belief cycle: essentially, one negative action triggers another, which triggers another, creating a cycle of doom where beliefs, actions and reactions are all impacted
• In a business environment, it could impact worker productivity, morale, revenue, profit and overall performance
• Some form of intervention is typically required to break the cycle and create positive outcomes

Doom loops can form in any situation and at any scale, often leading to serious consequences. Starting small, let’s say you’re a manager with a negative perception of meetings; they’re a waste of time and you feel no one ever takes action. You stop preparing for them while becoming increasingly vocal about their irrelevance. 

Your actions impact others as more time talking and fact-finding in meetings leads to fewer actionable outcomes. Even if those meetings were efficient at the beginning, they gradually lost impact and became a waste of time.

“We are prone to negative thinking and falling prey to doom loops. We scan for negative, threatening possibilities in our environment as part of our survival strategy,” Dr Andrew Shatté told Forbes. 

“In a doom loop scenario, we can get angry when there’s been no violation, anxious over a non-existent future threat or an exaggerated real threat, and frustrated due to a perceived lack of resources when they are, in fact, right under our noses.”

Some doom loop scenarios are not so straightforward, such as the impact of poor recruitment. If you already have a limited workforce capacity and you’re struggling to meet important care minutes or 24/7 Registered Nurse requirements, negative feelings and frustrations will surface. 

A doom loop could occur if negative perceptions of your business impact future recruitment. Workers are not interested in applying for a poorly performing provider, while your internal thoughts are that no improvements can occur without that recruitment occurring.

It’s never easy to break out of a cycle of negativity. Sometimes there are larger forces at play you cannot easily overcome. But there are small, steady positive actions you can take to bring an end to any doom loop.

Identify and address the root cause

In instances where productivity and morale are impacted, small positive actions can have a considerable impact. And it’s always best to intervene early on to avoid a doom loop from spiralling out of control – although that’s not always possible if loops aren’t spotted.

One potential solution is a method coined as ‘Trap It, Map It, Zap It’ by Dr Shatté. Using this methodology, when you recognise negative emotions are present – such as a feeling of frustration at another meeting – take a moment to reflect on your feelings and map them back to the cause. This way you can address the reason for negativity and ‘zap’ it away. 

The approach should also reduce stress and anxiety while building increased resilience against small issues that normally cause frustration. It’s important to pause and reflect regularly as it’s always easy for frustration to arise elsewhere.

Embrace the flywheel

The flywheel effect sits at the other end of the spectrum from the doom loop: it’s a chain reaction triggered by positive outcomes. This is where a number of preventative measures and policies can really come into play to help provide structure to positive workplace outcomes.

So how can you strengthen your work environment to benefit employees and consumers? What steps can you take to maintain positive beliefs and reinforce positive actions? 

• Perhaps you can invest in additional on-site training to ensure staff learning is constantly nurtured
• Personal development opportunities could give staff the skills they need to improve skills such as time management
• Additional well-being days and incentives might attract new employees looking for a workplace that cares about their needs

These small steps can kickstart a positive chain reaction without drastically changing the way you operate.

Seek external help

Sometimes, you do need an external point of view to break bad habits, especially habits we choose to ignore or avoid. If your systems and processes are not achieving enough success to overcome negative doom loops then you should consider looking outside of your business for help. 

A new voice will challenge you and bring impartial opinions and advice. Whether it’s for human resources, quality and compliance or finance; you name it, an external consultation or audit could be the key to breaking harmful doom loops.