"There's no point" or "They won't let us". If these phrases sound familiar, it could be learned helplessness, a phenomenon where people stop trying after repeated rejections, writer Maelyn Lagman says. A few months ago, a new colleague came into a meeting prepared with fresh, thoughtful ideas for improving user acquisition. Then, as the ideas were presented, others in the team – myself included – responded only by shooting them down with lines like, "Oh, I don’t think management will like that".