Understanding and Follow up
A few years ago, I was in a doctor’s office dealing with back problems (aggravated by my constant air travel). After running a few tests, the doctor sat me down and rattled off 10 different exercises that I was supposed to do regularly. He spoke very quickly. Knowing what I know about communication, I realized that there was no way I was going to remember what he said, much less understand it or do it! He assumed that once he had made the correct diagnosis and told me what to do, his job was done. He had checked the box on his to-do list. Time for the next patient!
One of the great causes of corporate dysfunction is the glaring gap between “I say” and “they do.” It’s a huge false assumption to believe that just because people understand, then they will do. Like this doctor, leaders all too often believe that their organizations operate with strict down-the-chain-of-command efficiency.
I dealt with this head-on with a client, a CEO of a major high-tech firm. He was 54 years old with a degree from MIT. He was also — like most of my clients — extremely action-oriented and impatient. Surveys indicated that his employees felt they didn’t understand the company’s mission and overall direction.
“I don’t get it,” he groaned. “I clearly articulated the mission and direction in our team meeting. I’ve summarized it in a memo, which was immediately distributed. See, here’s the memo! What more do they want?”
I thought he was kidding, that he had a very refined sense of irony. Making people understand the company’s mission doesn’t happen by fiat. It also doesn’t happen overnight. Surely this smart CEO understood how difficult it was to communicate even a simple message. But by the pained expression on his face, I could see he was serious and (if only in this one area of management) clueless.
“Let’s review,” I said. “How was this memo distributed?”
“By email,” he replied. “It went to everyone.”
“Okay. How many people actually read the memo?”
“I’m not sure,” he said.
“Of those who read the email, how many do you think understood the message?”
He thought for a second and said, “I don’t know.”
“Of those who understood it, how many actually believed it was serious - not just PR hype?”
He shook his head.
“Of this dwindling group of believers, how many remembered it?”
Another sorry head shake.
“That’s a lot of unknowns for something you regard as vital to your company’s existence,” I said. “But that’s not the worst part. Once you eliminate all those people — and it’s quite possible there aren’t many people left — how many people do you think will change their behavior based upon the memo? How many will begin living and breathing the company’s mission because of your memo?”
The CEO just grimaced and shrugged his shoulders.
I tried to revive his spirits by pointing out that the deeper issue was his mistaken belief about communication, not this memo.
“The only thing you’re guilty of,” I said, “was that you checked the box. You thought your job was done when you articulated the mission and wrote the memo, just one more item on your to-do list. You moved on. Mentally, you smiled and said, ‘Next!’ ”
Like most extremely busy leaders, this CEO wanted to believe that after he communicated direction, people heard him, understood him, believed him, and then executed.
I can understand why executives persist in thinking this way. We all want to believe that our comments have great meaning. We usually assume that the people around us are smart, and they can understand what we’re saying and see the value of our remarks. We’re often busy and overcommitted. We all wish we could just move on to the next item on our list.
The good news for every manager, including my CEO friend, is that this false belief has a simple cure. It’s called “follow-up.” After communicating, follow up to make sure that people really understand, talk with them to get a read of their buy-in, and involve them to make sure that they’re committed to execution. Follow-up may take a little time, but it’s less than the time wasted on miscommunication.
Life is good.
Marshall
www.MarshallGoldsmithFeedForward.com
October 29, 2008 - Japanese Business Executives - Tokoyo, Japan
October 30, 2008 - Japanese Business Coaches - Tokoyo, Japan
December 2, 2008 in San Francisco - Linkage: “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” one day program
Tags: CEO, Coaching, communication, Marshall Goldsmith
October 28th, 2008 at 6:19 am
The Dr. analogy is an interesting one. In Jerome Groopman’s book, “How Doctors Think”, much can be gleaned on both leadership and the role of those who follow the leader’s wishes.
Groopman’s premise throughout the book is to arm the patient with enough confidence to be able to ask the right questions, rather than having a doctor make a prognosis after 1-2 minutes on what may be a life decision.
Hence, the importance for the team to be able to ask the right questions of the CEO when such a memo is distributed, and not wait for the CEO only to follow up. The efficacy of good leadership is also fostering an environment where some people will be comfortable asking for more detail.
Many CEO’s, like doctors, suffer from overarching hubris, snap decisions, and poor bedside manners-nothing new about that..
But a good doctor/CEO knows how to ask many questions before making an impactful decision
Want to find a good practitioner? Not hard. Jut look for the ones that give much more than a minute, do more of the listening, and ask a litany of questions..That’s good business and good health..
November 1st, 2008 at 4:37 am
Great post. Two comments: First, just about the time we are getting sick of our message people are beginning to hear it. Second, communication goes through several phases: awareness, understanding, acceptance, engagement, commitment. Many leaders, especially C-level, expect their people to go from awareness to commitment in one step, often mistaking lack of understanding and acceptance for resistance. Follow-up is necessary but not sufficient for engaging the hearts and minds of our people.