Business decisions are built on information.Decision-makers gather that information from their staff, who gather it through their day-to-day work.The quality of that information drives the quality of the decisions made.A critical factor in any leader's long-term success is therefore to make sure the information he or she gets is the truth, and not some distorted version of the truth filtered to match their preferences or prejudices.Well-thought-out decisions based on bad information will be bad decisions.Get better results. Encourage truth-telling.As leaders in organizations of any size, we all pursue great results.Making the sound business decisions that lead to those results must be founded on a true, unfiltered understanding of market conditions and opportunities.That information must flow up from the "front lines," where employees most directly interact with the marketplace.That truth (the information a leader really needs) rises to the top only when those employees are fully engaged. They trust that telling the truth, whatever it is, is valued and rewarded.Every leader, at every level, must master the art of creating and nurturing a culture in which everyone seeks and provides continual clean and unbiased feedback because everyone agrees that this contributes to strong decision-making.Donald Sull, a professor at London Business School, in a recent article on Booz & Company's blog, points out the personal barriers people put in the way of pursuing truth.."Managers and entrepreneurs walk past lucrative opportunities all the time, and later kick themselves when someone else exploits the strategy they overlooked.Why does this happen? It's often because of the natural human tendency known to psychologists as confirmation bias. People tend to notice data that confirms their existing attitudes and beliefs, and ignore or discredit information that challenges them.".You have probably seen this yourself.A colleague strongly supports market research that confirms their position, but finds a hundred reasons to discredit research that challenges that position.Such managers are not interested in pursuing the truth, but in pursuing an agenda.This denial of the truth inevitably wastes resources on imperfectly targeted initiatives.Most organizations already have within them the people who have spotted the gaps in prevailing wisdom, and are just waiting to be asked to share!The Pursuit of Truth.The 'pursuit of truth' is not simply modeling good leadership behavior by telling the truth.Being truthful in everyday interactions builds Unshakable Trust and underpins Communication that Counts, the two other critical success factors in raising employee contribution.Pursuing truth goes beyond that. It is creating a culture where everyone believes in and values sharing all information, good or bad, up down and sideways across the organization, because they know the truth is the most critical ingredient in good decision-making and in taking action.Gathering the truth, and believing it without slanting, gilding or corrupting it, is hard in typical organizations.People sometimes keep important information to themselves because "Knowledge is Power," and they don't trust that superiors will treat them fairly when they share it..If it is bad news, they will carry some blame for delivering it.If it is good news, they will not get proper credit for it.And when people do share it is selectively, in support of their agendas.Inconvenient truths are hidden away or laundered to sanitize them.Motivating Chemical Salespeople.I learned quite early in my career that everyone in a corporation can blind themselves to the truth underlying a situation in the pursuit of desired results.I sold process chemicals used to manufacture finished goods.One particular case exemplifies how ignoring the truth can have catastrophic results., We had discovered a new application for a chemical surfactant with a large prospective client.We created the new application in the laboratory, and diligently field-tested it.From that point on, a lack of commitment to recognizing the truth in the situation led to some dramatically bad results..The client was enthusiastic about the new chemical because it solved a big problem in their production of particle board and was anxious to get it into production.They placed a big order of 90 barrels worth $100,000 pending successful testing and production.We tested the new chemical in three different environments.In two, it performed as advertised.In the third, it was a qualified success that raised some questions.We rationalized that the third test was an aberration (two good results against one bad!).Why? Largely because it would have required going back to square one to reformulate the solution.We went into production (a big investment involving thousands of dollars) and shipped a large initial order straight off the production line to the client.My chemist and I spot-checked the order upon arrival, and noticed that the chemical looked different than the laboratory version.Here again, the truth was that a quality check was called for before the client used the product.None of us, client included, wanted to suffer through another delay, so we decided to swallow our doubts and put the chemical into production.It failed so spectacularly that we cost our client two full days of production, a loss of close to $100,000, and had to destroy the chemical (another $100,000 lost for my company.).My company and that client did no business together again for years, representing significant lost revenue.Avoiding most of that large loss would have been simple had any person involved (including me) expressed reservations more honestly and strongly.No one wanted to be the one to bring the process to a halt, and so the loss occurred.Pursuing the truth in this situation meant both believing in the concerns raised in the third field test and admitting that the new production process was flawed.Either instance would have led to a far better long-term result for both company and client.How does a leader pursue the truth?As usual, good leaders must start with themselves.Each must admit that they are fallible, and that others know valuable stuff that will make them better and help them make better decisions.They must also..Welcome bad news, and reward the messenger.Resist self-delusion ("I am a veteran and I know best" is a common failing of managers).Put aside filters based on past experiences (while keeping them handy for comparative purposes).Build trust within the team that they will accept the truth and respond to it positively.Never assign blame, especially as a first step.Challenge "yes men" to prove that their good news is the truth.Go out of the way to aggressively listen to what is being shared.Reach out to invite more input all the time, not just sporadically.Establish an organization-wide mindset that everyone adopts this behavior, and believes that sharing the truth is a cherished part of the corporate culture because it leads to better results.Cementing this 'pursuit of truth' mindset into the corporate culture means that problems and opportunities are willingly shared sideways and upwards, and not left buried to fester, or worse, be discovered and exposed by customers.Companies that pursue truth in every interaction respond better to customer issues, and seek to solve them, learn from them, and share that learning across silos and over cube walls.
Monday, September 24, 2012
The Pursuit of Truth: An Indispensable Part of Full Employee Engagement
Business decisions are built on information.Decision-makers gather that information from their staff, who gather it through their day-to-day work.The quality of that information drives the quality of the decisions made.A critical factor in any leader's long-term success is therefore to make sure the information he or she gets is the truth, and not some distorted version of the truth filtered to match their preferences or prejudices.Well-thought-out decisions based on bad information will be bad decisions.Get better results. Encourage truth-telling.As leaders in organizations of any size, we all pursue great results.Making the sound business decisions that lead to those results must be founded on a true, unfiltered understanding of market conditions and opportunities.That information must flow up from the "front lines," where employees most directly interact with the marketplace.That truth (the information a leader really needs) rises to the top only when those employees are fully engaged. They trust that telling the truth, whatever it is, is valued and rewarded.Every leader, at every level, must master the art of creating and nurturing a culture in which everyone seeks and provides continual clean and unbiased feedback because everyone agrees that this contributes to strong decision-making.Donald Sull, a professor at London Business School, in a recent article on Booz & Company's blog, points out the personal barriers people put in the way of pursuing truth.."Managers and entrepreneurs walk past lucrative opportunities all the time, and later kick themselves when someone else exploits the strategy they overlooked.Why does this happen? It's often because of the natural human tendency known to psychologists as confirmation bias. People tend to notice data that confirms their existing attitudes and beliefs, and ignore or discredit information that challenges them.".You have probably seen this yourself.A colleague strongly supports market research that confirms their position, but finds a hundred reasons to discredit research that challenges that position.Such managers are not interested in pursuing the truth, but in pursuing an agenda.This denial of the truth inevitably wastes resources on imperfectly targeted initiatives.Most organizations already have within them the people who have spotted the gaps in prevailing wisdom, and are just waiting to be asked to share!The Pursuit of Truth.The 'pursuit of truth' is not simply modeling good leadership behavior by telling the truth.Being truthful in everyday interactions builds Unshakable Trust and underpins Communication that Counts, the two other critical success factors in raising employee contribution.Pursuing truth goes beyond that. It is creating a culture where everyone believes in and values sharing all information, good or bad, up down and sideways across the organization, because they know the truth is the most critical ingredient in good decision-making and in taking action.Gathering the truth, and believing it without slanting, gilding or corrupting it, is hard in typical organizations.People sometimes keep important information to themselves because "Knowledge is Power," and they don't trust that superiors will treat them fairly when they share it..If it is bad news, they will carry some blame for delivering it.If it is good news, they will not get proper credit for it.And when people do share it is selectively, in support of their agendas.Inconvenient truths are hidden away or laundered to sanitize them.Motivating Chemical Salespeople.I learned quite early in my career that everyone in a corporation can blind themselves to the truth underlying a situation in the pursuit of desired results.I sold process chemicals used to manufacture finished goods.One particular case exemplifies how ignoring the truth can have catastrophic results., We had discovered a new application for a chemical surfactant with a large prospective client.We created the new application in the laboratory, and diligently field-tested it.From that point on, a lack of commitment to recognizing the truth in the situation led to some dramatically bad results..The client was enthusiastic about the new chemical because it solved a big problem in their production of particle board and was anxious to get it into production.They placed a big order of 90 barrels worth $100,000 pending successful testing and production.We tested the new chemical in three different environments.In two, it performed as advertised.In the third, it was a qualified success that raised some questions.We rationalized that the third test was an aberration (two good results against one bad!).Why? Largely because it would have required going back to square one to reformulate the solution.We went into production (a big investment involving thousands of dollars) and shipped a large initial order straight off the production line to the client.My chemist and I spot-checked the order upon arrival, and noticed that the chemical looked different than the laboratory version.Here again, the truth was that a quality check was called for before the client used the product.None of us, client included, wanted to suffer through another delay, so we decided to swallow our doubts and put the chemical into production.It failed so spectacularly that we cost our client two full days of production, a loss of close to $100,000, and had to destroy the chemical (another $100,000 lost for my company.).My company and that client did no business together again for years, representing significant lost revenue.Avoiding most of that large loss would have been simple had any person involved (including me) expressed reservations more honestly and strongly.No one wanted to be the one to bring the process to a halt, and so the loss occurred.Pursuing the truth in this situation meant both believing in the concerns raised in the third field test and admitting that the new production process was flawed.Either instance would have led to a far better long-term result for both company and client.How does a leader pursue the truth?As usual, good leaders must start with themselves.Each must admit that they are fallible, and that others know valuable stuff that will make them better and help them make better decisions.They must also..Welcome bad news, and reward the messenger.Resist self-delusion ("I am a veteran and I know best" is a common failing of managers).Put aside filters based on past experiences (while keeping them handy for comparative purposes).Build trust within the team that they will accept the truth and respond to it positively.Never assign blame, especially as a first step.Challenge "yes men" to prove that their good news is the truth.Go out of the way to aggressively listen to what is being shared.Reach out to invite more input all the time, not just sporadically.Establish an organization-wide mindset that everyone adopts this behavior, and believes that sharing the truth is a cherished part of the corporate culture because it leads to better results.Cementing this 'pursuit of truth' mindset into the corporate culture means that problems and opportunities are willingly shared sideways and upwards, and not left buried to fester, or worse, be discovered and exposed by customers.Companies that pursue truth in every interaction respond better to customer issues, and seek to solve them, learn from them, and share that learning across silos and over cube walls.
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