his senior direct reports, “You are the stupidest people I have ever
met! Doesn’t a single one of you understand anything about man-
aging?” As might be predicted, this group seldom moved positive
ideas around and seldom volunteered anything that anyone
thought might arouse his ire.
Yet the desire to hold back was not limited to those dealing with
this one manager. Asked by the vice president of research in that
business to help a small WorkOut team address a pressing job design
problem, I worked with a knowledgeable group that at first resisted
even addressing the problem. After considerable prodding, the
group members finally dug in and eventually hit on a novel and far-
reaching solution to the role of process engineers in the manufac-
turing operations. As the group was working through the ideas and
preparing to present them to the VP, one old-timer suddenly
exclaimed, “We can’t present this! The VP might not like it, and
you know that at GE you can’t tell the truth to management!” All
the air went out of the group. After I picked myself up off the floor,
I managed to ask why he believed that. He told the story of a former
middle manager who had years before stood up at a public meeting
and tried to tell the general manager something controversial. “By
the next week, he was gone!” When I checked, it turned out that
the dissenter had been in a lot of trouble for poor performance and
was already on the way out. However, the belief was deeply embed-
ded, like an urban myth, and wasn’t going away by countering with
“the facts.” That experience was the most vivid example of just how
difficult it can be to create a culture that supports bringing ideas for-
ward and overcoming the fear of making a career-limiting move.
Although the example is extreme, I believe it is emblematic of
the deeply embedded assumptions in many organizations about
being careful with what is said to more senior people. Of course,
some of the situations calling for ideas on the move are more
“expert-to-expert,” but unless the fellow expert is someone known
and trusted or the whole organization is used to the free flow of
ideas and expertise, it isn’t going to be easy.
LEADERSHIP ANDACCESS TOIDEAS 283