Denial is Not a River!!

How the Mighty Fall - we continue with the Blogger's Bookstudy today. Need to catch up? Check out Marcy's blog post!

Stage 3 is all about denial - denial of Risk and Peril.

Collins takes us through a case study of Motorola, and one of their big failures. There was a point in 1996 when Motorola could have pulled the plug on an expensive technology they were developing, called Iridium. However, instead of acknowledging the compelling evidence of risk, and being willing to take a limited hit, they went ahead with development. The following year Iridium filed for bankruptcy and defaulted on $1.5 billion in loans! Says Collins:

Audacious goals stimulate progress, but big bets without empirical validation, or that fly in the face of mounting evidence, can bring companies down, unless they're blessed with unusual luck. And luck is not a reliable strategy.

How do you avoid this? You can definitely set big hairy audacious goals - but not based on denial of risk. Make the moves based on growing empirical evidence.

Contrasting Leadership Team Dynamics:
On the Way Down Versus on the Way Up

• Way Down - people shield those in power from grim facts
• Way Up - people bring forth unpleasant facts

• Way Down - people assert strong opinions without providing evidence or solid argument
• Way Up - people bring data, evidence, logic, and solid arguments to the discussion

• Way Down - team leader doesn't ask enough questions and avoids critical input
• Way Up - team leader challenges people and pushes for penetrating insight

• Way Down - team members go along with decisions but don't unify to make them happen
• Way Up - team members unify behind a decision and work to make it succeed

• Way Down - team members seek credit for themselves, but their peers don't trust them
• Way Up - team members credit each other for successes, and enjoy one another's trust

• Way Down - team members argue to look smart, instead of to find the best answers
• Way Up - team members debate with the goal of finding the best answers

• Way Down - team conducts "autopsies w/blame," seeking culprits, not wisdom
• Way Up - team conducts "autopsies w/o blame," getting wisdom from painful experiences

• Way Down - team members faith to deliver exceptional results, and blame shift
• Way Up - team members deliver exceptional results, yet accept responsibility for setback

That list gives us a lot to think about, doesn't it?? What are your thoughts about it?

Make sure you check out the next installment tomorrow at Genie's Rock and Ramble!