The famous book by Jim Collins- Good to Great was a synopsis of research on the traits of successful leaders and flourishing companies. The book turned out to be the #1 best seller, Since the findings were simple yet powerful in driving success. One of the traits was “Confront Brutal reality”. I consider this as a very powerful milestone for a journey towards success. Very often in our life, we tend to evade the truth. We rarely report the fact to seniors in the “as is” form. I believe there are many reasons that compel us to adopt such behavior.
A few of these reasons are:
1. Managers do not want to hear unpleasant truth. They like good news. As a result, the organization develops a tradition of sugar coating the “brutal reality“ before reporting it to the higher authorities. I wish this would make it really sweet.
2. The reporting manager hopes that he would be able to correct the “brutal reality” in a short time, and the lapse will be short lived. Seniors may not be aware of the fact. Unfortunately, very rarely it remains that way. Those of us coming from industrial unit background or sales background (FMCG, Telecom Service Providers, etc.) know very well that in order to show the numbers against monthly target, particularly when there is a shortfall, month closing is often dragged to 1st or 2nd of the following month. The cycle continues, and 2nd becomes 3rd, 3rd becomes 4th and so on so forth. But to no avail.
3. People have reluctance to confront the reality and resolve the issue. They keep procrastinating solving the issue. They forget that delaying a problem is not same as resolving an issue. Sometimes, capability to resolve a problem is also a concern.
Many a times, there could be other reasons too. I think the causes listed above are the most common ones in many companies.
I would like to emphasize that most of the companies are in the “Trap of not confronting the brutal reality”. If you look at the study by Jim Collins, only 11 companies out of 1435 good companies were classified as great companies in the study. This means, just less than one percent of the companies are great. Few of the companies from 11 slipped downwards subsequently. Nothing is perpetual. Change is inevitable. The Great companies will slide to good or bad depending on the prevailing leadership. If less than 1 % companies are really great, not all of us may get a chance to work in such an environment in our life time. My recommendation is to believe in this universal principle. If the environment does not allow it, try doing it in different form. Do not circumvent. It does not help.
I recommend internalizing the Principle of “Confront Brutal Reality”. You are fortunate if your leadership also believes in the principle, if not, try out different manifestations. Do not leave the concept.
Always remember, delaying a problem is not solving the problem. Confronting, leads you to look for solutions. It creates a better culture. It creates simple working environment which is based on truth. There are many more advantages.
The learning is: Confront the brutal Reality. Even though you have to pay the price in the short run, you will reap long term benefits. I believe “Confronting the Brutal Reality is like putting a strong foundation for a soaring structure. It is a must for sustained success.
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