Step Into the Wild!

Welcome to the 145th edition of “InTouch”. As always, I would love to continue the conversation so please hit reply and let me know what you think.

Story of the Week: “Step Into the Wild!”

A few years ago, one of the CFOs I work with cancelled our morning meeting. Later, when I asked him what had come up, he told me that the numbers were no longer telling him the whole story, so he needed to spend the morning on the warehouse floor.

One of the principles I often discuss with leaders is what I call the “helicopter view.” As organisations grow, leaders need to spend less time working in the business and more time working on the business. They need to rise above the day-to-day operations so they can spot patterns, connect the dots and make better strategic decisions. It is one of the most important transitions a leader can make. The helicopter view is invaluable. The wisdom lies in knowing when to land it.

Strategy and data can tell us what is happening, but they do not always tell us why. Sometimes the only way to truly understand a business is to leave the boardroom, walk the warehouse floor, speak to the people doing the work and experience reality for yourself.

One of the biggest illusions in business is believing we understand something simply because we have studied it. It is a bit like trying to understand an elephant by watching one in a zoo. You can learn a great deal by observing it, but you are still seeing it in a carefully controlled environment. To truly understand the elephant, you have to see it where it belongs…in the wild, where it adapts to challenges, makes decisions and responds naturally to whatever comes its way.

The founders of Airbnb understood this from the very beginning. In the early days, they travelled to meet hosts personally, photographed the apartments themselves and stayed in many of them so they could experience the platform exactly as their customers did. They knew that some lessons could never be learned behind a desk.

Over the years, I have noticed the same pattern in many of the organisations I work with. The best leaders know when to rise above the business and when to immerse themselves in it. They know that the most valuable insights rarely appear in a report before they appear in a conversation, and they never allow distance to replace understanding.

Information can be collected from a distance. Understanding cannot.

Words of Wisdom

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

A Question to Ponder, dear friend.

What part of your business, your leadership or even your life have you been trying to understand from the zoo instead of experiencing it in the wild?