You Spoke No One Listened

[R. Palan Ph.D.]

This is a great piece by Marshall Goldsmith and Kelly Goldsmith One of
the great causes of corporate dysfunction is the glaring gap between
“I say” and “they do.” It’s a huge mistake to assume that just because
people understand, then they will do. A few years ago, I saw a doctor
for back problems. After running a few tests, the doctor sat me down
and quickly rattled off 10 different exercises that I was supposed to
do regularly. He assumed that once he had made the correct diagnosis
and told me what to do, his job was done. Knowing about communication,
I realized there was no way that I was going to remember what he said,
much less do it. But he had checked the box on his to-do list. Time
for the next patient! Like this doctor, leaders all too often believe
that their organizations operate with strict down-the-chain-of-command
efficiency. In a perfect world, every command is not only obeyed but
obeyed precisely and promptly, almost as if it were a fait accompli.
The manager never has to follow up — because he said it — it was done.
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. Originally published in bnet Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
was recognized as the #1 leadership thinker in the world and the #7
business thinker in the world at the Thinkers 50 ceremony sponsored by
the Harvard Business Review. He is the million-selling author or
editor of 31 books, including the New York Times and Wall Street
Journal bestsellers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There –
a WSJ #1 business book and winner of the Harold Longman Award for
Business Book of the Year. His books have been translated into 28
languages and become bestsellers in eight countries.