Moneyball: Direct and Honest Communication

In my article, “Moneyball and Organizational Excellence,” I listed 15 things I observed in the film that had a direct correlation to organizational excellence. The second was Direct and Honest Communication. This is sometimes a hard thing to do.

I worked for an organization that had one of its three core values as “respect.” For many years this was interpreted as “be nice.” People were constantly told they were doing great and got vanilla feedback – feedback that ignores opportunities for improvement – and as a result believed they were performing above their level, or could not understand, when they were doing so well, why they were not getting promoted.

There was a change in executive leadership that helped the organization to focus on respect as being open and honest. People started learning what they needed to improve on and why they were not getting promoted, as well as what they might do to improve their chances of promotion. The downside was that there was an adjustment – a serious adjustment – that left people that were constantly getting promoted beyond their capability, angry and frustrated. The lingering effects of the old interpretation of respect exhibited further disrespect and there was a fairly significant exodus of people who before felt respected, but now were not, at least in their eyes. The ultimate disrespect was not being truthful by being nice, or beating around the bush and hoping the recipient of the message gets the point.

In the film, Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), is brutally honest in nearly every engagement he has. Sometimes to the point of being rude. But he is direct and honest. I don’t condone rudeness, but I also understand the culture of major league baseball, may allow for a modicum of rudeness, while being direct and honest. There is implicit permission that this exist within the culture.

Not all cultures are this way. I worked in big food for 15 years of my career, where the business is tied closely to the consumer, who can be fickle and change in their tastes and preferences on a dime. This means that in a business of low margins, high volume, and massive velocity through the value stream. Honest and direct communication was considered a show of respect, and fundamentally necessary to the success of the business. In order for such communication to work successfully within the organization, it needs to be made clear to all within the organization that this is part of how we function as professionals.

There are two aspects of communication we need to understand if this is to occur. A search on Microsoft Copilot produced the following with respect to candor (being direct) and honesty: Candor focuses on openness and directness in communication, while honesty encompasses truthfulness and reliability. The question becomes one of how to make this happen within an organization that does not necessarily embrace this but wishes to change the culture.

The big food organization I worked for last, before a career change, made it really easy to maintain this level of communication and thus respect, within the culture of that organization. Since there are variations that exist all over the internet, I’ve refined them as shown in the images below. Each image is on opposite sides of the same card. We share these cards as part of the Shingo CULTURAL ENABLERS Workshops we produce and facilitate for organizations striving to understand how behaviors influence results. Direct and honest communication is a positive behavior.

In the big food organization I mentioned, everyone was trained on both giving and receiving feedback. We all had cards similar to what is shown in the image. When we knew we had a difficult conversation, we were trained to pull out the card, place it on the table and ask permission to use the guidelines for giving and receiving feedback. Since everyone was trained the guidelines and how to use them, it was nearly impossible to say no. It was very easy to have a “crucial” conversation. It was also easy to give balanced feedback, i.e., sharing what is good, along with what needs to be improved on.

In conclusion, direct and honest communication is necessary for organizational excellence. Establishing a culture where direct and honest communication is not only encouraged, but expected, as a matter of respect. Or as stated in the first Shingo Guiding Principle, and the first of principal the Shingo CULTURAL ENABLERS dimension, “Respect Every Individual.” Direct and honest communication is foundational to true and real respect.

NOTE: If you have an interest in the Giving and Receiving Feedback pocket tool shown in the image, or learning about how Shingo workshops are drivers as to how organizations can develop sustainable results through understanding how behaviors influence results, please feel free to DM me.

I very much appreciate you and the time you have taken to read this article. You can find more articles like this from me at https://www.legup.solutions/blog.

If you have thoughts this or other topics regarding yours or your organization’s journey of excellence, feel free to continue the conversation on my Secret Sauce slack feed.

Originally published at https://www.legup.solutions on 09 APR 2024