When was the last time you observed a leader asking, “Is this what our customers want?”
This simple and powerful question is often replaced by statements about what customers want. More junior employees defer to their more senior colleagues, assuming the boss has the answers. More senior leaders feel compelled to have all the answers, so they avoid asking questions they don’t know the answers to.
Why does this happen, and how can we break the cycle?
Reason #1: Strict adherence to hierarchy leaves little room for curiosity
Hierarchy is a critical component of a functioning business. Decisions must be made to create movement, whether positive or negative. Many organizations do hierarchical decision-making. Junior team members gather information and prepare options for consideration. They schedule time with a higher-ranking decision maker who is then forced to make a decision in a short amount of time with less information than the team had.
With the decision in hand, the team moves forward to implement it. They’ll do the work to make it a “right” decision, but they’ll be closed off to any new information that might warrant a change in direction. If there is any new information, it means scheduling another meeting with the decision maker, and the long cycle of uninformed decisions repeats.
Imagine standing on one end of a soccer field and trying to kick the ball into the goal at the other end. You can wind up, kick the ball with all your might and hope it goes in on the other side. Alternatively, you can dribble the ball from one end of the field to the other, and when you get close, kick the ball in the goal. The second approach significantly increases your chances of scoring a goal.
How to fix it: Reframe decisions as experiments. Go from “We will” to “What if?”
There’s no way of knowing exactly how a decision will play out. It’s a best guess based on the information available at the time. Instead of prioritizing the decision, prioritize the work that happens after the decision. That decision will reveal new information that will show if the first decision was on track or not. Instead of spending weeks gathering information for a high-ranking leader to make a big decision, empower the team to make much smaller decisions, allowing them to pivot along the way based on what each one reveals. Allow everyone at every level to continuously ask, “Is this what our customers want?”
Reason #2: The curse of expertise
The curse of expertise occurs when someone becomes so knowledgeable in a certain area that they lose the ability to understand what it might be like not to know that thing. They forget what it was like when they didn’t know. A pro golfer has a hard time putting themselves in the shoes of a first timer. A Michelin-starred chef has a hard time relating to someone who has never chopped vegetables. In her article, 3 leadership reversals required for success today, Julie Winkle Giulioni delves further into this concept.
The curse of expertise goes further. As professionals gain more experience in their field, they are often referred to as “Subject Matter Experts” or SMEs. SME’s are brought into situations as the saviors with all the answers. Leaders in this position feel they are expected to know all the answers. Questions are left to gather dust in their toolbox.
How to fix it: Start with questions
Subject Matter Experts must redefine expertise as a combination of curiosity and lived experiences. Instead of walking into a room with the answers, walk in with questions.
- “How did this come to be?”
- “What have you tried so far?”
- “Why is this important to you?”
- “Is this what your customers want?”
- “How might we find out?”
It’s essential that these questions are asked in a curious manner, rather than a judgmental one. The expert cannot ask if they already know the answers. Just a few questions will provide the expert with the critical details needed to put their expertise to work. Their guidance goes from living in a vacuum to living in context.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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