While a recent report concludes that most organizations are unhealthy, no one is saying so openly.

A recent Booz/Allen/Hamilton report entitled “A Global Check Up: Diagnosing the health of today’s organizations” concludes that most organizations are unhealthy. The report states that that there is a fundamental disconnect between corporate executives and the organization. Senior executives see their organization as healthy whereas the rest of the organization sees it as unhealthy. It also concludes that in companies with this problem, the people in the organization will not openly disagree with leadership.

It’s logical to assume that poor performance correlates with unhealthy organizations, so how can corporate leadership and the organization not be aligned on issues of performance? Is corporate leadership blind to the issue; or are the people in the organization making excuses?

Why will no one in the organization openly disagree? Perhaps a fairy tale can shed some light on this situation.

Fashion versus substance

In 1837, Danish author Hans Christian Andersen wrote a wonderful fairy tale called “The Emperor’s New Clothes“. It’s the story of a leader who was so enamored with the idea of looking good to his subjects that he had a different suit for every hour of the day. Some modern day corporations have inadvertently created leaders with the same persuasion of the ruler in the fairy tale. In this case, the subjects are the shareholders and looking good means showing a profit each and every quarter.

In the fairy tale, two dubious characters try to sell the Emperor a new idea. They explain that, for the right price, they can produce a wonderful suit made of cloth with a magical property. The magical property is that the cloth would only be visible to those who were completely pure in heart and spirit. The Emperor contemplates the thought — a suit made of a magical cloth that looks good to those who are truly good.

Many organizations aren’t healthy and their quarterly results are not what they appear. With a little accounting magic however, a few program cuts and temporary personnel layoffs, the quarterly results are made to look good.

The Emperor orders the work to be started immediately. The rogues begin making the magical but invisible cloth on their looms.

Today’s employees call this the flavor of the week. The reality of the whole organization rests within the whims of leadership. Many employees believe that corporate leadership, like the ruler in the fairy tale, is out of touch with reality.

The Emperor sends his ministers to check on the quality and progress of the work. Each and every minister comes back exhorting the beauty of the cloth, even though none of them could see a thing. Remember that “the cloth would only be visible to those who were completely pure in heart and spirit.”

Many managers live in a political arena where the primary goal is to maintain their place in the hierarchy, frequently at the expense of truth. In these instances organizational realities are trumped by a herd mentality and the fear of reprisal. Failure to abide by these rules can result in job loss.

Finally, a grand unveiling was planned for the Emperor to display his new clothes. The Emperor went to view his clothes and was shocked to see absolutely nothing. But he too pretended to admire the fabulous cloth, inspecting the clothes with awe. After all, he couldn’t admit to not being pure enough to see what had been woven. So, after disrobing, he went through the motions of carefully putting on a suit of the new garments.

The pretense that some organizations perpetuate in order to maintain non-productive notions is a source of constant amazement for their competitors and the general public.

Under the royal canopy the Emperor appeared to the admiring throng of his people, all of whom cheered and clapped. They all knew the rogue weavers’ tale and did not want to be seen as less than pure of heart.

The bubble only burst when an innocent child loudly exclaimed, for the whole crowd to hear, that the Emperor had nothing on at all. He had no clothes.

This is where the rubber hits the road. Many programs are created to make organizations and people look good. When these counterproductive programs dominate organizational reality, the only way out is the hope that some innocent, naturally and spontaneously, speaks the truth to the right people at the right moment.

Organizations can indeed become unhealthy if there is a fundamental disconnect between what corporate leadership sees and thinks, what people in the organization see and think, and what they are expected to admit to. When the fear of reprisal and the herd mentality create situations where looking good is more important than being good, employees will comply in public and complain privately to whoever will listen. The real challenge is not only to look good but to be good. Anything less is a fraud.

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