If Facts are Brutal, Why Confront Them?

What a strange week. Interesting month… but strange week. Hurricane Irene had her way with us here in the North East over the weekend. Only after a 5.8 earthquake in Virginia shook us all up a little last Tuesday. As the month draws to an end, I realized I needed to finish-up the 4^th Chapter of Good to Great. After I rushed through it, I felt like I wanted to read it again. It really was a great chapter. Although I liked the title, the content supported it fairly well. Confront the Brutal Facts. Awesome. But, who really does this? Corporate-wise anyway. Some of us do in our personal lives and relationships. Many of us do not. I understand why it is difficult. It is not easy realizing the error of one’s ways. We fear being rejected or judged. This is why I particularly liked the sub-section on autopsies without blame.

If I had a room full of people, and asked: “Who would like to listen to what I have to say?”, not many hands would go up. However, if I asked: “Who would like to be heard?”... More than likely, everyone would raise their hand. Jim points out how good to great companies actually had a culture in which people have a tremendous opportunity to be heard. Wait a minute. Doesn’t that sound a bit like Habit 5 again? This time, from the point of view of the Company. That is, the Corporation needs to understand and listen first to their employees. This may not be what most of us are used to. We usually listen to what the company has to say – then we follow. So, how is it that a Corporation benefits from listening to its employees? Creating an environment where the truth is heard. Simple, yet powerful. Think about it.

Everyone knows I am a big enthusiast of our use of imagination and its practical uses in creating vision and setting goals. In this chapter, Jim Collins starts the 2^nd section with the title Facts are better than dreams. It may seem to contradict my love for imagination, but facts are grounded in reality – terra firma. Whether one is right or wrong matters not. Facts are facts. It is impossible to argue with them. I believe we would both agree that vision is important for leadership. However, remember Colin Powell’s quote: “Vision without action is hallucination”. No doubt, the action part must come into play and address the facts that the vision may otherwise overlook. Jim highlights “good to great companies continually refined the path to greatness with the brutal facts of reality”. Not by being optimistic or charismatic or trying to motivate people. Furthermore, he states the “the key is not to de-motivate”. Speaking of de-motivation, check these out for a good laugh: Demotivators 

Jim states:

“..the single most de-motivating actions you can take is to hold out false hopes, soon to be swept away by events”

My favorite section was the titled Conduct autopsies without blame. I could not help but flash-back to Dr. Covey’s concept of “psychological air”. A downright simple concept that if you give people breathing room, not only will they stick around – they may very well reveal clues about what is really going on. When ever I feel that I am being judged or singled out, not only do I want to get out of there – I can’t help but wonder who does that person think he is in order to judge me? Is this person so “perfect”? Why should I reveal more information that will only make me look worse in his/her eyes. In Jim’s words: “If you have the right people on the bus, you should almost never need to assign blame but need only to search for understanding and learning.” However, the “right people on the bus” still baffles me a little. I feel that if you lead by example, and do not throw stones, others should follow.

That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Right? It probably depends how you face it. A prime component to it all is unwavering faith. No matter how harsh the situation, if you stay the course, and face adversity head-on, you will emerge “stronger”.  This is a huge take-away from this chapter. How you respond to the situation, and what you do with the information gathered, provides the outcome. Not luck, getting psyched or pumped. Jim goes into great detail about the Stockdale Paradox  – which I encourage everyone to listen to here. Interestingly enough, one of John Wooden's pinnacle structures of the Pyramid of Success is "Faith" coupled with "Patience".

In closing, it was neat to find another one of the 7 Habits in the chapter. In general, I felt this chapter was great and has a lot to offer. If only everyone in the business environment was familiar with the principles in this chapter – there would be so many more Great companies.

One of the great things about Dispair.com, is that they do confront the Brutal Facts... =)