As a leader in an organization, you shouldn't always outsource your eyes or your ears. Sometimes... you just have to go see for yourself.
Management books on this topic are plentiful: Tom Peter's MBWA (Management by Wandering Around) may have been one of the most popular. Gorbachev told President Reagan, "It's better to see once than hear 100 times."
In lean manufacturing, the Japanese call it Genchi Genbutsu - or "go see for yourself." What it means is to go to the source, find the appropriate facts so you can clearly understand, in order to help build consensus in the organization, make the correct decisions, and achieve your goals.
We all have filters and blind spots that affect our ability to see the world for the way it really is. We tend to see the world as "we" are, and we support facts or viewpoints that already agree with our current opinion and perspective. We seek out and retain those facts that agree with us and often ignore those that don't.
Sales & marketing people, who often interact with customers frequently and directly, may inadvertently feed information to the organization that they think leaders want to hear and not necessarily the way the world really is.
Sometimes they'll overlook sharing a few of the blunt realities that leaders need to know as well. Perhaps the facts don't reflect well on them - even if it might be a critically important fact in a decision process - or are difficult to share. It's human nature not to bring those forward. We probably all do it, and most likely it's not even intentional. We shouldn't blame them - or anyone else - just recognize that it occurs. Go ask a trusted advisor or friend if you tend to do that...
As a leader, good news will usually find its way to your office - so don't worry about searching hard for that. Be sure you create the systems and cultural environment where it's OK to share bad news, so that people in your organization understand that leaders need and want to hear both the good and the bad.
If it's OK inside your company culture to share bad news, and the "messenger" of unpleasant news doesn't get in trouble for communicating it, it's more likely to continue to occur. This will represent an outstanding opportunity to learn something-and your company will probably get better as a result.
If not, and employees believe the outcome reflects negatively on them, it could be the last time anyone will come forward to share lousy news. Many employees fear that bringing a leader bad news could be a serious career-limiting move...
So don't always outsource your eyes and ears inside your company or your marketplace. Sometimes you have to go observe for yourself what's really going on.
Do you agree?
