Once upon a time there was a engineer who had a problem.
He was responsible for a production line in a large manufacturing plant. And the products that came off of his line kept failing quality tests.
So, he proposed a novel idea.
He asked the lab to change their test procedure so that his products would pass.
Fortunately for the company's customers, his boss stopped the idea.
Now, silly as this seems, the tactic of changing the way we measure quality is fairly common. One especially damaging version happens in the area of communication.
For example:
1) People stop the carriers of "bad news" so that no one receives it. ("Bad news," by the way, is any news that someone doesn't want to hear.)
2) People make themselves unapproachable so that no one dares bring them bad news. (I knew a fellow who would hiss when people told him about a problem.)
3) People ignore critical information. That is, they continue as if they had never received the information.
4) People distort information so that bad ideas appear plausible.
5) People discredit the source of the information so that decision makers end up being confused about what to believe.
None of these tactics have ever proved useful over long time. Eventually, truth prevails. And in the meantime, the organization wastes resources and time on bad ideas.
It makes you wish that there was a diligent boss in every organization.
Key Point: Effective leaders are champions of truth because it leads to durable results.
Much success,
Steve Kaye
714-528-1300
Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator
Steve Kaye
Professional Speaker and Photographer
- - -
See: Steve’s Web Site
(Dozens of articles, more than 600 photos, and 165 blog posts)
