Instead of protecting high-performers, toxic systems often overuse and target them.

The system ends up damaging itself from within—like an autoimmune disease.

In dysfunctional environments, competence is often reframed as disruption.

By Ekaterina Ricci, MLS/MDR, and Bazil Cunningham, JD/MDR

In medicine, autoimmune disease is a failure of recognition. The immune system misidentifies healthy tissue as a threat and launches a sustained attack against the very cells it is meant to protect. The damage is not caused by an external invader, but by the body’s own defense mechanisms operating without appropriate regulation.

Something strikingly similar happens inside organizations.

This post explores "organizational autoimmunity"—how institutions exploit their most capable talent: often high-achieving women. By examining toxic management, ADHD neurobiology, and the "tend-and-befriend" stress response, we expose how systems weaponize female competence to manage chaos created by high-conflict personalities (HCPs).

The Competence Trap in Practice

Consider a company where team members routinely avoid documenting processes or clarifying project roles. When a new employee tries to implement clearer procedures, set boundaries, or ask for defined responsibilities, they are subtly discouraged and degraded as “incompetent,” “disruptive,” “full of excuses,” or “not a team player.”

Consider the case of Mary. She got a new job out of state, but the day-to-day reality was nothing like what she had been sold. Her manager exhibited unchecked high-conflict behaviors. One day he told Mary: “I don’t need to be specific. Just get it done! And fast!” While his instructions were frequently ambiguous and unclear, his hostility was known among staff, which made it difficult to ask for clarity. Distrust permeated all levels of the hierarchy and Mary learned to walk on eggshells.

The organization employs a “Theory X” management style (the assumption employees are inherently irresponsible and must be heavily micromanaged or managed through friction) compared to “Theory Y,” which assumes employees are intrinsically motivated to achieve........

© Psychology Today