Patio Pondering: Facing Truth in the Data
The weather off the patio is beautiful this morning. The late summer flowers are basking in the morning sun, and the dew sparkles like little diamonds across the leaves.
Last night I had a conversation with a friend about changes in an organization we were both members of previously. They shared highlights from a meeting where one member laid out a situation with a simple, cogent discussion that put the details in terms anyone could understand. The presentation used facts, numbers, and offered an obvious conclusion. My friend expected the discussion to be full of agreement. Instead, she was dumbfounded by the refusal of the entire committee to see the truth in the data—the truth that this organization was dying, perhaps already dead, just waiting on the death certificate.
After our conversation, I thought about how often this happens in the business world, when teams, committees, or boards refuse to accept the data. I’ve been in some of those meetings, where the answer was obvious, like the flashing Blue Light in K-Mart we Gen Xers remember from childhood. Yet the decisions made ignored the truth.
I get it. Facing facts that disagree with your opinion or plans is difficult, especially when the consequences of accepting the truth will affect you or the business negatively.
My question to my readers today is twofold:
How do you open your heart to being open to the truth and drop your preconceived notions?
How do you communicate that potential bad news to your team?