The volumes were good. The process looked healthy. Observations were being submitted, dashboards were green. But the quality was poor, the knowledge we were looking for simply wasn’t coming through.
In a leadership room, someone described employee observations as “usually trivial.” Then Fiona laughed. A few people nodded. Someone else laughed. Nothing dramatic happened, but something important became visible.
The policy said observations mattered. The leadership room had learned they did not.
Not a process problem
The people closest to the work noticed how their observations were received. They knew. So they adapted, filtered the truth, and met the target. That wasn’t a process problem. People were contributing based on what experience had taught them would happen next. It was the script the organisation was running on.
Organisations cannot access knowledge, creativity or innovation that leadership has taught people is not worth sharing.
Change the question
So we changed the question. Instead of “How do we get more observations?” we asked: “What have people learned happens when employees tell us something difficult?” And leaders started asking better questions of the work: “What is making good work harder? What could we change to make it better?”
When leaders asked better questions, the organisation gave better answers. The process began producing what it had always promised, useful knowledge, better ideas, creative solutions, shared ownership. Fiona’s team went on to produce award-winning innovations, because leadership changed their response, and the script people followed changed with it.
Do your people contribute based on what your policy promises, or what experience has taught them will happen next?