Organizations are hobbled by false beliefs that have always
rested on faulty evidence. Those false beliefs waste
resources, time, and effort by focusing attention in
unproductive and counter productive areas and activities.
Here's an example: For most organizations, good ideas are
20 times more likely to come from outside the organization
than within. Yet most organizations assume that almost all
good good ideas will come from within and focus time,
attention, and resources accordingly. It's like trying to
grow strawberries in the the shade; those sun-loving plants
won't do well if you believe they prosper best in the shade.
The misunderstanding-of-the-facts stall (a bad habit that
reduces results) is particularly harmful because some of
your best people already realize that you are operating on
faulty assumptions. Since actions based on those
assumptions are folly, these key employees are losing faith
in the future of the organization and the quality of its
leadership. Soon, you may find recovery from your mistakes
is made more difficult as your most talented people seek
other opportunities.
Misleading Beliefs: The Danger of False Assumptions Abounds
How is a misunderstanding-of-the-facts stall different
from a disbelief stall? A disbelief stall is based on
something that was once true, but no longer is. A
misunderstanding-of-the-facts stall is based on a belief
that was never true. Here are some examples of harmful
misconceptions:
• The future can be accurately forecast.
• Competitors will stand still while we make rapid progress.
• Agreement among colleagues means that issues are
understood.
• Customers will make the decisions in the same ways they
always have.
All long-held assumptions and beliefs should be questioned.
Ask yourself:
• Is it really true?
• If it isn't true, why do people believe it to be true?
• What's needed to persuade people to change their beliefs?
Titanic Misconceptions: A Stitch in Time
The fate of the Titanic illustrates several dimensions of
the misunderstanding-of-the-facts stall. It was an obvious
misunderstanding of the facts to believe that the ship was
unsinkable and to provide too few life boats for the
passengers and crew. We have learned from that error.
Today, all liners are required to have enough life boats
for everyone.
The actual sinking related to a different misunderstanding
of the facts, one about the weather. Normally, icebergs in
the North Atlantic would have been found floating far north
of the Titanic's path on that frigid night in April 1912.
The captain disregarded a report from another ship that
icebergs had moved to a more southerly latitude. Why? He
believed that icebergs never traveled that far south during
this season. If the captain had double-checked with other
available sources of information, such as other ships and
shore stations, he might have gotten a confirmation that
icebergs were loose in his area in time to slow down and
avoid the sinking. None of the 1,503 deaths would have
occurred had the ship slowed down in the iceberg-infested
seas, or, better still, had the captain chosen a more
southerly route where there were no icebergs.
The ship's contact with the iceberg was made worse by a
command to turn away from the looming iceberg. It's
anyone's instinct to avoid a collision. In this situation,
that instinct was based on a misconception. While many
would have suffered broken bones and some would have died
from injuries during a head-on collision, the Titanic would
probably not have sunk after such a collision. Few of its
watertight compartments would have been breached.
Because the ship turned, the iceberg slashed along the
entire length of the ship on one side, resulting in almost
half the watertight compartments being breached. If all
those compartments filled with sea water, the Titanic would
sink. None of its designers had ever considered the
possibility the ship would sideswipe an iceberg along so
much of her length.
Once struck, another misconception sealed the ship's doom.
No one checked soon enough to see how bad the damage was.
Subsequent investigations have shown that the total area
breached in the ship's side was less than ten square feet,
across many different "watertight" compartments. With fast
action, rescue crews could have placed mattresses and
waterproof liners over enough of the gashes in the least
damaged compartments to have kept the ship afloat until
rescuers arrived.
Passengers also disdained to take their chances with an
early life boat in the North Atlantic, feeling they were
safer on board. Many of the life boats were launched
without a full complement. Many other life boats couldn't
be launched later because the ship was listing so hard on
the side where the iceberg struck its sideways blow.
Once the Titanic was in peril, misunderstanding of the
facts once again weighed in to create unnecessary harm. The
captain of the Californian, a nearby ship large enough to
rescue everyone aboard the Titanic, was alerted by the
watch that Titanic was launching distress flares. The
captain decided these pyrotechnics must be some kind of
celebration and sailed on. All this captain had to do to
avoid this mistake was to wake up his radioman and ask the
Titanic, "You're not sinking, are you?"
The lesson to be learned is that we can change course and
avoid icebergs that can mortally damage our organizations.
We don't have to steam at top speed through treacherous
waters without enough life boats simply because we
misunderstand the dangers.
Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
----------------------------------------------------
Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a
strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is
coauthor of six books including The 2,000 Percent Squared
Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, and The 2,000 Percent
Solution Workbook. Free advice on accomplishing 20 times
more is available to you by registering at
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