How many of us really know- I mean really know- what is going on our organizations? I think of the beginning of the David Lynch movie "Blue Velvet" which shows a beautiful, serene green field. The camera moves in closer and closer and starts to show what is happening within the green grass. There are bugs and beetles at war, dirt being churned up.
Things can look beautiful on the surface. CEOs and other leaders need to be careful not to accept this view as their only data point. They need to both zoom in and zoom out.
Zooming in means digging beneath the surface to get a sense of what is really going on. Are your employees really engaged in the work of the company? Does your company have best practices? Have you examined your processes lately to see if they are still working? Have you revised your metrics to fit the changing times? Is what you and company leaders are communicating being heard the way you intended? Being understood? Have you spoken with your customers about how your company is measuring up to their standards?
Zooming out means taking a step back and looking at the business from outside. How does what we do fit into today's world? Are we still relevant? What direction is our market going? Are we ahead of the curve or behind it? Is the economy good for us or bad for us? What about our competitors? Do we have to re-define who they are?
A company is multi-dimensional. One look, one view does not tell the story. True leaders know their companies inside and out, because they have taken the time to explore them from all angles. They have opened communication into all sectors and are willing to hear all views and give them credibility.
There is a lot to see if you only look.





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