The ambiguity of not knowing where one stands

From Moral Mazes by Robert Jackall.

Illusions of every sort are, of course, the stuff of life, but dreams of mobility become particularly important in hierarchical situations dominated by the moral imperative to get ahead. Managers simply recognize here the links between personal illusions and institutional needs and choose not to upset an ambiguous but useful coincidence. Perhaps even more to the point, however, managers avoid telling their immediate subordinates about harsh organizational realities not only because they have to deal with these people face-to-face on a daily basis but also because such a confrontation might jeopardize images that they have nurtured in others and indeed in themselves. Another high-ranking executive in Weft Corporation explains:

Why does it happen? Because people are afraid of confrontations. People want to be thought of as kind, sensitive, and compassionate. Being compassionate has a good significance in our society. The easy way out is not to do anything, don’t tell the guy. That happens a lot.

The ambiguity of not knowing where one stands thus not only reflects the ambiguity of the judgments that determine one’s organizational fate, but also the tangled motivations, self-perceptions, and projection of images of those who make the judgments. 

I have done a number of professional services business unit turnarounds and all the above is true but manageable.  Make clear the shortfall of performance (to warrant the changes that have to be made) and then bring in someone new who can make decisions independent of past relationships.  There are risks but it works on average far better then evolving out of a strategic business lethargy.

I once did a turnaround in a country with a very non-confrontational national culture which put a premium on amicable relationships all around, among employees, with clients and with suppliers.  It was a good national market, the team was competent, experienced, and eager to be successful and yet growth was low as was profitability.

I was appointed to turn it around and in the first month interviewed every employee and reviewed every client relationship and assessed all the account growth and profitability measures.  Among the findings:

• Multiyear clients on whom we were making no money.
• Personnel who had been slated for firing years ago but who hung around on fractional work contracts.
• Invoices which were years outstanding and uncollectable.  
• Hundreds of clients with whom we only did very intermittent work.  No focus.

The existing leadership team was perfectly competent and capable of executing a turnaround in quick order.  As they did.  So why the accumulated problems?  For the reasons identified by Jackall.  Excess niceness, lack of transparency, willingness to cut slack to avoid difficult conversations.