Negotiating reality at work – Get it right or feel the sting
As an executive, I often made important decisions without as much data and information as I needed to feel confident. Often information was just not available for example in regards to the competition or upcoming market trends.
Coaching is great asset to you as a leader to develop clear vision and 360-degree radar to see the reality of your situation. Seeing reality consists of your ability to gather the right information and interpret it usefully while limiting your inherent basis’s.
As an executive, I often made important decisions without as much data and information as I needed to feel confident. Information was simply not available to me when I needed it. For example, you can’t alway have firm data on your competitors, or be able to correctly predict upcoming market trends. Additionally, the info I was able to attain came with its own set of issues. Popular ways of talking about information focused on the negative rather than the positive. Information would be labeled as “weak signals” or “imperfect” information and then treated as such. In my experience the biggest factor in poor executive decision making is not that information is missing or weak but that the easily obtainable information is misinterpreted or not sought. As an executive, you need clear vision and 360-degree radar to see ‘what is’. Without a clear view of reality, you will get it wrong and pay the price, possibly resulting in career setbacks or a big public market failure – think the ‘New Coke’ formula.
When a new product launch is a failure today it is called the “New Coke” of its industry. In April 1985 Coca-Cola executed what is widely considered today a public relations disaster. Coca-Cola changed its almost century old drink formulation based on taste test data that showed customers preferred the new formula’s sweeter taste. The change was a way to deal with declining sales due to stiff competition from Pepsi-Cola. Within three months Coca-Cola re-introduced the original formulation due to its customers negative and at times hostile reaction to the change. Executives at Coca-Cola underestimated or failed to consider their customer’s emotional attachment to the unchanging nature of the product and it place in US history.
One of the key skills that I focus on in a coaching session is dealing with so-called ‘facts’. What passes for ‘facts’ in how we describe our reality can often be assumptions made about other people’s motivations or perspectives or our own deeply held beliefs (conscious or unconscious) about the world.
Skewed perceptions and so called “facts” come in many different shapes and forms. It can be difficult to pick up on them due to our deeply embedded biases. Can you pick up on these so called “facts” and begin to construct a truthful reality?
“Frank is trying to take credit for the project success in order to get that promotion.”
“Purchasing doesn’t understand our challenges all they are focused on is filling in paperwork and passing internal audit.”
“R&D doesn’t care about costs or understand today’s hard economic realities for the business they just want the latest gadget to play even if it does not apply directly to our business goals.”
As a leader, how do I determine what actions to take if I don’t know what is the reality I’m looking at? Is my view the same as others? What approach can I take to sort through my understanding and experience of the issue at hand. I also have to to take into account my understanding of what others experience of the issue (perspective taking ability).
When faced with a difficult quandary I ask; what are the three levels of reality in this specific situation? When answering this question it is very important to be as specific as possible. I ask:
- What do I believe exists?
- What actually exists?
- What could exist?
What do I believe exits?
Finding the answer to this question is not as simple or self-evident as it may appear. It requires a certain level of self-awareness and reflection and can be facilitated by journaling or meditating on the question. Ask yourself – what do I really believe exists? In me? Around me? In the interaction between myself and others? In the company systems? In the market place? In answering these questions and examining our reactions and attitudes we have answered the most difficult of the three questions. In this answer, we have identified our potentially confused and erroneous interpretation of life, of others and of our self.
What actually exists?
After answering the first question as honestly as possible we are now in a better position to see what does actually exist. We can start to question the premise of our original belief. We can now approach the problem more directly, taking nothing for granted, conducting an inquiry of others, seeking different perspectives and input, approaching everything in a new and fresh way. When we look further and question the original premise of our beliefs, new information and options open up for us and lead into the third question.
What could exist?
This is where we can find that ‘Ah ha’ moment. When it becomes clear that a new and different problem exists to be solved or more creative options become available to remove the limitations that exist. This is where the ‘art of the possible’ can arise and new ideas and step change innovations can occur.
How do we know we have arrived at this point? How do we know when we have discovered what could exist? What the answer might be to our concern or issue? Ask yourself, do you have a feeling of relief and liberation from the issue, do you or your team feel energized and reinvigorated? These are signs that our actions are close to addressing the reality of the matter directly, rather than our beliefs about work, others or ourselves.
Narrow or unexamined views block possibility and lead to failures. Learn to see more of the situation thorough examining your reality. Practice questioning your beliefs through the inquiry above. Call a friend/coach and have them challenge your point of view and help uncover your blind spots. It will improve your decision-making…and it may save your job!