What every executive should demand from the people that touch their data.

If you’re new to this series, be sure to read our brief intro on what this series is about.

I’d like share a true story. I share it because it highlights blind spots that are not as unique as you might think. In fact, this brief article could just as easily be about your business in some fashion.

A few years ago, I was retained to fix what the client said was a “data anomaly”, which had lingered for years. No one inside could solve it. Unsurprisingly, we easily unmasked this “anomaly” as an enterprise wide “train wreck” of bad data. I define “bad data” as that which is un-useful…un-used… or worse…misleading to those who need it to make decisions affecting company performance. (If you have P&L responsibility, we ask you read on).

After 6 months of unraveling this mess, with ceaseless questions to the stakeholders and users of this information, we suggested some strategic and obvious fixes. Approval of this initiative had to go to the top. Our meeting with the President was an eye-opener, and rather shocking. The fact was that the President did not have a clue that the dashboard he was using to check company performance was both wrong and misleading. More, when we asked what “drove revenue” in his business, insofar as the dashboard he was using, he could not answer it with certainty. (For background, after 6 months of looking at every piece of information inside the company…we already knew this). For further context, in all the previous 5 years the client cut headcount to save money. Headcount reduction was his primary tool to remove expenses to protect the net income. By examining the impact of key individuals leaving, we also knew that these headcount reductions cost them 3X more than their perceived savings!

Fortunately this story has a happier ending, as we were able to show & execute a 10% savings (in the multiple 7 figures) in his Operating Expenses over a 2 year period without touching headcount.

The moral of the story is that all the answers to improving the company’s performance were right there…under their nose. If you have P&L responsibility, we urge your intellectual curiosity, and demanding your unit heads rationalize every dollar both made and spent. Can they prove the “activities” they are charged with make…or lose…your company money? With absolute certainty, we can guarantee that this ongoing exercise will improve your performance…personally and professionally.

So what’s a viable solution?

Consulting staff with formulated questions, who speak

“We’ve tested, and repeatedly proven, that identifying and consulting staff with formulated questions, who speak knowledgeably and who are forthcoming is a potent tactic for improving business decision-making, improving morale, and delivering superior outcomes.”

Let’s look more closely at the three essential elements to success that are underlined above:

The use of formulated questions. Take a moment to consider your pending decisions, informational blind spots, and to formulate what open-ended questions might yield fruitful insight.
Consulting staff who speak knowledgeably. Opinions and complaints have a place, but fail to add value in decision making. Seek out individuals who respond concretely, and with preparation and facts, when you ask what led them to their point of view.
Individuals who are forthcoming. Yes, it’s a simple reality that employees rely on your judgements and biases for their livelihood and that of their families. At the same time there is alot of research that reveals people’s real motivation to work is actually in your favor. I subscribe to Dan Pink’s finding that Purpose, Autonomy, and Mastery are what we seek from work (after our financial needs are met). What better way to allow them to flex those muscles than through a substantive conversation with an executive such as yourself?

In closing, I’ll confess there are two main barriers to successfully applying these tactics: overcoming your personal hubris as an executive and overcoming a fear that you will only create an employee complaint box. Fortunately, with a bit of introspection on the leadership traits you would like to
exhibit and some well-tuned questions, you can overcome these barriers and cultivate an organizational culture of speaking truth to power…making it just a tad bit easier for you, at the top.

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