Influencing others—for example, “You appropriately involve
other executives and organizations in your planning
process.”
Managing the team—for example, “You face up to and
attempt to resolve or work out conflicts constructively
among your subordinates.”
Working with subordinates—for example, “You communicate
in a frank and open manner.”
Ensuring openness—for example, “You admit a mistake when
one is made.”
Leading—for example, “You demonstrate by your behavior
that you perceive yourself as a leader.”Among the forty practices on which the NASA senior executives
were rated over a period of several years, the highest-rated by sub-
ordinates were such practices as “having technical knowledge
required for your position” and “communicating with subordinates
in a frank and open manner.” The lowest-rated among the forty
executive practices was “You present bad news in a constructive
manner.”
The Challengeraccident, you may recall, was caused by faulty
O-rings. The fact that these rings could break under extremely cold
conditions was known. However, this fact was not communicated
upward in the management hierarchy—at least not adequately or
effectively. The messengers relating this fact were either ignored
or told not to worry about it. Describing this issue as a communi-
cation problem, especially communicating upward, is no doubt an
oversimplification; however, it reinforces the data that the lowest-
rated of the forty executive practices was “presenting bad news in
a constructive manner.” This particular practice involved influ-
encing others, primarily bosses—in other words, “managing up.”
Thus a key example of knowledge management—and a simple
lesson, if not a cliché, for executives—is “do not shoot the
messenger.”
270 LEADINGORGANIZATIONALLEARNING