👶 The Corporate Kindergarten: Welcome to the world of Kidults!
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A thought-provoking examination of corporate practices
Infantilization Theory
Infantilization is a pattern of behaviour in which the person in charge treats competent adults in a childlike manner. This is often due to the authority figure’s inability to tolerate, manage or control age-appropriate behaviour and growth toward independence.
Simply put, infantilization aims to preserve or create childhood-like ignorance, incompetence, inexperience, dependence, and obedience by ignoring and breaching all sorts of boundaries to dominate and disrespect.
Infantilization is not a rare occurrence, although little is spoken about. Children, for example, can find themselves in family dynamics that refuse to acknowledge the child as a fully separate person. This infantilization is often disguised as love, affection, playfulness, and protection but leaves the child feeling suffocated, dependent, anxious, and neurotic.
Infantilizing behaviour can also be observed in marriages or in gender role stereotypes where one spouse takes on or is expected to take on the role of authority to exert power over the other. Infantilization also plays out in societies where governing authorities set standards of behaviors, often blurring the line between Socialization and Infantilization.
It can also be observed amongst young adults who are continuously influenced by media marketing of infantile behaviors such as carefree living and conscious escape from responsibilities. People with physical and/or mental disabilities experience infantilization on a daily basis on public transport, in educational systems, and even in Court, where mental age is used instead of biological age, often without justification.
Infantilization exercises control, denies personal progress, and reduces adults to a permission-seeking position. In care systems, it comes from good intentions, as caregivers often view the elderly population as not being able to care for themselves or being cognitively compromised, therefore, in need of help. However, in the name of “help,” they may be subjected to patronizing behaviour such as baby talk and regular exclusion from decision-making. While young adults and those who live at home or in care benefit from appropriate guidance, parents, teachers, and care workers often infantilize them by underestimating their maturity, capabilities, and sense of responsibility.
As a result, they exert excessive control over their lives in the form of rules, confiscation of belongings, and breach of their privacy. This often causes depression, anxiety, and a perceived lower level of autonomy and self-esteem.
Traditional HR and organisational practices don’t work in a world where everything changes constantly. This book provides every corporate folk out there with specific examples of outdated and often ridiculous practices and presents practical solutions to address those.
Listen here to the podcast:
👶 The Corporate Kindergarten - The Infantilisation of Adults #61
The episode talks about "The Corporate Kindergarten" by Szilvia Olah, a book that critiques workplace cultures and practices, particularly within the hospitality industry, arguing they infantilize adult employees. Olah uses her experiences and research to highlight instances of
Read the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Kindergarten-Welcome-world-Kidults/dp/B0BT6YJDN2
