Life at the Sharp End
Life at the Sharp End
Dr. Jason Price
18 • Workplace scapegoating - a systemic response to cultural challenge and change
49 minutes Posted Jul 8, 2026 at 12:00 am.
Introduction
From developmental biology to organisational behaviour
The Scapegoating Playbook in organisational culture
How scapegoating plays out for the targets of workplace bullying
The impact of scapegoating on a team and its culture
Scapegoating, bystanders and the human consequences
Can complaint investigation processes be trusted?
What HR and complaints professionals need to know about scapegoating
Moral distress: When HR realise they’re being manipulated
Female on female aggression in the workplace
How do female leaders tackle assimilation in male dominated cultures?
3 key tips to mitigate, minimise and recover from scapegoating leadership
Where to find more of Nathalie’s work
Lessons for leaders, HR and Professional Standards Units to learn
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Show notes
Scapegoating is an equal opportunity form of harmful workplace behaviour, because anyone can find themselves being made the workplace scapegoat. A phenomenon associated with workplace bullying, scapegoating takes place at a systemic level - described by Dr Nathalie Marthinek as akin to an “organisation’s immune response” to challenge, questioning and unwanted cultural change.
Nathalie writes extensively about workplace power dynamics and she’s an expert on how unhealthy behaviours like scapegoating, narcissism, exclusion and female-on-female aggression can infect a workplace culture.
In this episode, Nathalie talks about Life at the Sharp End for people who’ve found themselves subjected to the scapegoating playbook — from the targets harmed by this unpleasant and unkind behaviour, to the bystanders, HR practitioners and investigators swept along as the enablers of harm against the person targeted as the scapegoat.
Would you like to know more?
Visit priceperrott.com for this episode's show notes and subscribe to my Beyond the Bullet Points Substack for additional insights, commentary and related content.
LINKS
Read Nathalie’s Substack, Hacking narcissism
Visit Nathalie's website
Connect with Nathalie on LinkedIn