THE STORY
Weathermen on TV don’t seem to think it is enough to merely
give us the outdoor temperature. They
don’t seem to think that ordinary temperatures accurately reflect how we FEEL.
So on particularly hot days, they weathercasters talk about the “Heat Index.” The
heat index temperature is usually higher than the actual temperature, because
it takes into account things like the humidity, which can make it FEEL even
hotter.
In a similar fashion, when it gets especially cold, the
weathercasters use something call the “Wind Chill Factor” to restate the
temperature as colder than the actual temperature. This is because high winds
can make cold temperatures FEEL even colder.
Well, my experience is that when it gets especially hot or
cold, most people seek shelter indoors where it is more comfortable. People
naturally flock to the warmth of indoor heat when it is cold outside or indoor
air conditioning when it is hot outside.
So, if the weathercasters are REALLY interested in giving us
the temperature we FEEL on these extreme days, they should give us the room
temperature…because that is where most people will be found and that will be
the temperature most people will be feeling.
THE ANALOGY
Weathermen are correct in noticing that the temperature
reported on a thermometer does not always reflect how people feel. But I think
they miss the even bigger difference in temperatures between being inside
versus outside. That’s where the real difference in feelings occurs.
A similar situation takes place in the business world. Businesses
have all kinds of reports and dashboards to report all kind of numbers. These reports
and dashboards are like thermometers. They report the “temperature” of what is
happening outside in the marketplace where business is taking place.
The problem is too many executives spend too much time
indoors, inside the comfort and security of the headquarters building. These
executives do not FEEL the realities of what is going on out there “in the real
world.” They are protected from the intense competitive climate on the
outside. Things feel a lot better inside
the headquarters where bad news is often softened and “Yes Men” make the
executives feel like everything is grand.
Yes, the reports and dashboards may reflect real
temperatures. But unless one can penetrate the false feelings of headquarters comfort
and get the executives to really FEEL how things are going on in the real
world, they will not make the right strategic decisions.
THE PRINCIPLE
The principle here is that merely seeing the numbers of
business is usually not enough. You have
to get executives to actually “feel” the numbers.
Feelings are
Important
Why? First of all, business is very complex. There are so
many moving parts that any single number doesn’t tell the full story. And if
you have a whole stack of numbers, you are often no further ahead because it
can be hard to see how all the individual numbers fit together. It’s like having all the individual pieces of
a jigsaw puzzle, but no idea of what the picture looks like when all the pieces
go together. At that point, the puzzle pieces may as well all be colored black
for all the insight they provide.
Our modern technology can pump out thousands upon thousands
of data points every hour. But that doesn’t mean we are necessarily any smarter
about what’s going on. Drowning in “big data” doesn’t make us more intelligent.
True knowledge requires more than just piles of numbers. It requires context
and insight.
Context and insight help us to see the big picture—to actually
feel what is going on, to know what is truly important, and to see into the
future—beyond the reach of measurement tools.
Unless you can feel the big picture, you cannot create the big picture
strategy or make the right strategy decisions.
The second reason while feelings are important is because people
are emotional beings. They make decisions based on both reason and
emotion. Our customers are emotional
beings, our employees are emotional beings, our partners are emotional beings,
and our competitors are emotional beings. All of their emotional feelings
impact what happens outside in the marketplace. If our leaders do not have a proper feeling
for how all those emotions are playing out in the marketplace, they will make
the wrong decision.
Our leaders are also emotional beings. Their feelings affect their decisions. If their feelings are wrongly biased by
spending too much time insulated inside headquarters, their feelings will steer
them in the wrong direction.
What Should We Do
to Move From Numbers to Feelings
So how do we make sure that our leaders are feeling the big
picture in the proper context? I have five
suggestions.
1. Elevate the Art
of Interpetation. The gathering
of “big data” numbers is only relevant when those numbers can be interpreted
and put into context. We need to be able
to put a heat index or wind chill factor on the numbers to get them to reflect
how things really feel.
Just having a warehouse full of paint will not get you a great
painting. You need to add the artist who
can create the picture out of the paint.
Similarly, just having a data warehouse full of numbers will not let you
see the big picture of what is going on in the marketplace. You need to add the analytical “artist” who
can convert the data into the beautiful picture of what is going on.
Therefore, we need to elevate the importance of
interpretation of data to the same level (if not more) than that of the
gathering of the data. Ask yourself…how
much time and money has gone into building you data-gathering activities? And then compare that to how much time and
money is going into the interpretation and conversion of that data into a
picture that allows executives to feel the big picture of what is going
on. Is it in balance? Are you warehousing paint or are you creating
paintings?
2. Get the
Executives to Go Outside. If the
weathercasters really want us to know what it feels like outside, they should
just tell us to go outside and feel it.
There is often no substitute for actual first-hand experience in the
elements. If you really want to know how things feel, go feel it yourself.
Have top executives go on sales calls. Have them go to the store or website and
actually have to try to buy your product.
Make them have to actually use your product in real life
situations. Then have them buy and use
the competition. Watch how real
customers interact with your product or service out in real-world situations at
their homes or place of business. Eat lunch
with regular employees in the regular cafeteria. I talk more about getting out in the field here.
3. Listen to the
Outside Voices. If all your
executives listen to is each other, then they will only feel the temperature
inside the corporation. To feel the outside temperature, you have to listen to
the people who are living outside in the real world. That includes the
employees in the field, customers and other key partners.
Modern technology makes it easy to hear the voice of the
field and the voice of the customer. But
how much of these voices are being heard by the top executives? Just telling an executive sales are down is
one thing. Having them hear the rantings
of the dissatisfied customers who stopped purchasing is quite another. It provides a context for how to fix the situation.
Have executives listen in on the complaint line. Have them read the comments spoken in twitter
and other digital sources. Have them see
survey comments.
4. Tear Down the
Insulation. If you want the
temperature inside the headquarters to feel more like the outside temperature,
then you need to tear down the insulation which keeps the outside “truth” from
reaching executives. Employees need to feel that comfortable in speaking the
truth when talking to top executives. It
needs to be okay to speak up when the conventional wisdom inside the
headquarters appears to be out of sync with what is happening outside.
5. Make Strategic
Planning More About Painting Pictures.
Finally, I am getting more and more concerned about the fact that modern
strategic planning departments are turning into data organizers rather than
picture painters. They manage budgets
and deviations from plans, but are not providing the types of insights which
change how an executive feels about what needs to get done. I see more job
specifications in strategic planning asking for CPAs than I see requests for
great storytellers. If your strategists
cannot paint pictures with compelling stories, then you are back to merely
having piles of data (and wondering why budgets are not being met).
SUMMARY
If executives are insulated from the harsh realities of the
marketplace, they will have the wrong impressions of what is going on (and make
the wrong decisions). Just giving them piles of data from the outside is not
enough. Strategists need to make sure
context is placed around the data so that executives can actually feel what is
happening in the real world. It needs to strike a chord deep within their emotions.
To help in this process, combine the
context-making with plans to force executives to spend more time interacting
with the real word and the people in it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Maybe the best way to keep executives from hiding in headquarters
offices is to eliminate headquarters offices.
There are many companies which do this.
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