Don't Shield Them From Distress
Posted By Rob Millard - 4 Comments -
Dick Richard's post Don't Shield Them From Distress reminded me of a conversation that I had with the managing partner of a prominent law firm last year, where he expressed concern that the results of some research that we had done into their corporate culture might be divisive or distressing to some of his partners. Come to think of it, I've heard this concern (that disclosure of something contentious might cause distress) expressed many times over the years.
Yet an appropriate degree of distress is a critical ingredient for overcoming resistance to change.
Three essential elements must be present for strategic (or other) change to occur. Distress with the 'status quo' is the first. The second is a credible vision of what needs to be done to alleviate that distress; the third, the capability to do what is necessary to execute. The product of these three elements must be greater than the level of resistance to change, that is ALWAYS present to a greater or lesser degree.
This can even be illustrated as a formula, as follows:
So... while collegiality and harmony are obviously desirable attributes of any professional service firm, as a general rule, maintaining them at the cost of candour when it comes to 'brutal truths' will be extremely effective in killing off any attempts to execute strategies that involve change.
Comments, as always, are most welcome and may be posted below.
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Glad you liked my posts about distress. My own experience has been that employees can develop "collegiality and harmony" about dealing with the distress that their firm is under just as well as anything else. Magic can happen when they do that, producing a "we are in this together" attitude.
Rob,
Some business owners and executives just don't get it: Employees and shareholders want, and expect, all the news--good and bad. When they only get the good and hear the bad from other communications' channels (and they will hear the bad eventually, of that there is not doubt), they begin to disbelieve the good, and then discontent and low productivity rise. Just tell employees and shareholders the truth and stand back to watch them become engaged and begin providing solutions to cure the bad.
Agreed (with both Dick Richards and Lewis Green.) I believe that this issue goes far beyond just hiding bad news, though. Its about placing "not rocking the boat" above vigorously pursuing and debating contentious ideas, within which may lie sources of true differentiation. In other words: being different to one's competitors in ways that are valued by clients. In today's hyper-communicative world, it is more difficult than ever to stand out from the competition, and "killing" ideas that may be divisive is a sure-fire way to prevent one's firm from ever being more than "one in a crowd." Rob Millard.
And...if you fail to tell them the bad news, they will make up a story that is usually far worse than the bad news itself!