Leaders question

The CEO of a high-tech company told us of how his wife despaired of his habit of talking to strangers when he saw how they were using technology:

My wife says that I’m almost politically incorrect when I meet people, because I ask questions that I should not ask. But I believe that if you are interested in how people use technology, you should ask; and even if the way I do this is sometimes politically incorrect or embarrassing, people will find a way to deal with me, so, what’s the problem? How people now use technology to reprogram their lives (for example, how people easily used their phones or laptops to keep track of plane delays due to the Icelandic volcano eruption) is fascinating to me. It’s always fascinated me, and I think I will continue to find it fascinating.

The ability to ask questions is something leaders repeatedly refer to when we talk with them. This is especially true during transitions in role. ‘I think the questions you ask are always the most difficult thing; answering the question is somehow easy if you’ve found the right question. There are a hundred wrong questions for you to grab onto and completely waste your time with, but if at the beginning you can find the right question …’ Chris Gibson-Smith, then chairman of the London Stock Exchange, told us.

In some organizations the ability to ask the right questions is ingrained in the culture. At the design firm IDEO the culture is shaped by what is called ‘design thinking’. This is an approach to solving problems which argues that you should initially invest time in framing the question well, because if you frame the question badly the only certainty is that you’re going to get bad answers. Typically companies underinvest in getting the question right.

Design thinking is really about applying design methodologies to a much broader set of challenges in the world,’ explains IDEO CEO Tim Brown. ‘I have never yet seen an interesting creative idea that didn’t come from an interesting creative question. And so you might think about what are the kinds of questions that you can ask in an organization that inspire people to think differently, to question things in new ways, to discover new possibilities.

Tim Brown points to a survey of 1,500 CEOs which asked what was the most important quality for dealing with a complex world. Creativity was ranked top. ‘In today’s uncertain, volatile, rapidly changing world, creative leadership may just be the most important form of leadership there is,’ says Brown. ‘We think of leadership as about having the right answers but if you really want to unleash the creativity of an organization, that’s not the most important thing at all. In fact it can actually be an impediment if you think that your job as a leader is to have the best ideas.’

Creative leadership requires that leaders develop a sense of purpose in the organization, ask great questions and create a great stage for others to perform on. ‘If you do those things well, you really do have a chance of unlocking not only your own creative potential but the creative potential of all those people that you lead or that are around you, and that can be a pretty powerful way of making change happen in the world,’ argues Tim Brown.

The ability to ask questions depends on the willingness of people within any organizations to have honest and transparent communications. This is often not the case. Politics, machinations, ambition, greed and much more can get in the way of honest and upfront communication.

It is reassuring when you encounter this sort of transparency. We talked to Ben Slater, CEO of the London-based growth consultancy Bow & Arrow. Bow & Arrow’s values are displayed on the walls. They go beyond the usual corporate platitudes. Says Slater:

We have a value which is “we say what we really think and feel” and that means often having the uncomfortable conversation, the direct, difficult chat with a client to say, look, you haven’t got sponsorship here, we haven’t even met your CEO let alone had the CEO tell the business about the importance of this project, or we haven’t been to the factory, or you’ve not aligned this person. So we’re incredibly forthcoming about where the problems are starting to arise and capturing them and flagging them and making sure they’re dealt with.

He thanks being brought up by two lawyers for his insistence on straight talking honesty.

Taking soundings from people in the organization is especially important for the new leader. Sally Tennant, CEO of Kleinwort Benson Bank, recounts her preparation for taking over as CEO:

I spent a lot of time before I came reading about the business, reading board reports, meeting some of the top team and thinking about the issues. And, in my first four weeks, I had around seventy one-on-one, or one-on-two, meetings in the UK and the Channel Islands, all lasting from an hour to an hour and a half. I pretty much asked everyone all the same questions so I then had a level playing field.

At each meeting, the new CEO took handwritten notes. Her aim, she explains, was to better understand each individual, their responsibilities and how she could support them. Initially the conversation was restricted to individual areas of responsibility. Next it moved onto the business generally. Did they understand the strategy? Was it being pursued? Was it likely to get the organization to where it wanted to be? Then Tennant went into the organizational culture. What was good and bad about the way things were done? Were there any skeletons in the organizational cupboard likely to come toppling out? And where were the quick wins, the immediate changes which could make a powerful difference?

‘I asked everybody, if you were me, what would you focus on? What are the key issues?’ says Tennant.

It’s very interesting, if you do that across the organization. You start very, very quickly, building a picture of where the strengths and weaknesses are. So, my objective in the first four or five weeks was to get a picture as quickly as possible about what the key challenges were. I also wanted to get to meet as many people and gain their respect, because if you’re going to come in and change things, it’s easier to do so from the basis of people wanting to change. I also wanted to see where the talent lay, where the gaps were, in order to put together a plan.

Sally Tennant suggests that connecting directly with people actually creates its own momentum. There is a feeling of things changing simply by beginning a dialogue. ‘I have created momentum by spending time with people, but not just internally. I went to see some of our clients within the first five or six weeks. In a service business, particularly in financial services, I think it’s incredibly important for a CEO to have client contact, to understand client needs.’ Without dialogue with customers and employees, leaders exist in a vacuum. And those who fail to connect will simply fail to make the transition to leadership.

Reference

The best book on IDEO’s approach is Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman’s The Art of Innovation (Currency/Doubleday, 2001).