Have you ever noticed that the simplest truths in life an businesses are taught in Kindergarten? These lessons are so simple a child can figure them out, and yet we often forget to apply these simple lessons in business. There were several stories I learned as a small kid that have played a strong impact in my philosophy of work.
One of those stories I learned was a story of several philosophers who debated how many teeth were in a horse’s mouth. These philosophers debated this situation for many days, when finally someone decided they were going to go look in the horse’s mouth and count the teeth.
When I heard this as a young child, I thought that was such a dumb story. I asked myself, why would anyone sit around debating this question rather than just checking the facts and answering the question? As I got older, I began to see this in all kinds of situations. For example have you ever noticed how many movies are built around the fact that two people couldn’t get along simply because the two people wouldn’t talk through the situation and validate facts. Also, have you noticed how many disagreements in work or in your life simply exists because of a miss-communication or lack of an understanding of facts? In my experience nearly every conflict or direction setting debate lack this one element…looking at the facts.
My advice is be the one that is willing to stop the argument, go find the facts, and then bring that back to the conversation. Don’t message the data to your side of the story, don’t use the data to humble someone else. Instead truly humbly agree to go find the facts that will resolve a situation and then work with the others toward the common end state. Be willing to give up your position if you learn something unexpected from this search. Doing this not only builds trust with others, but by taking this approach you have now taken the emotion out of a situation, and together the team can move forward.
One of the greatest things about business is that it is logical. There is a right or wrong answer to a given business decision it is up to employees to figure out what data will move the business forward based on that information. When done right the decision is based on data, evidence, and keeping in focus my Rule #1- The goal is to make money. When this changes and a business makes a decision based on personality, dynamic speech, an opinion of the individual higher on the org chart, or a perceived need to please someone be prepared for significant pain and suffering. I am not saying these other items are wrong or not part of the business world, they are. I have just seen that when decisions are made without clear communication and clear data big mistakes happen. When clear communication and data exists the power to move forward is often overwhelming and great success occurs.
Sidenote: I just can’t handle a movie built around miss-communication. It drives me crazy. You can learn more about the story I mentioned at this link. What is ironic about this story, is there is still great debate about where it came from Horse’s Teeth (lockhaven.edu)
