A Game of Phones

by

As kids we all played the game of telephone.  Whether it was because we lived in a day where we didn’t have actual cell phones and angry birds in our pockets, or that there had not yet been an injunction on the production of lead based toys, which caused us to believe that such an unbelievably boring game might actually be fun.  Whatever the cause we all played the game.  The purported “fun” of the game was to see just how distorted a message could become when passed through a chain of people.  The longer the message and the longer the chain of people, the more egregiously the message would be distorted in the end.  “The teachers will crack any minute” becomes “The teachers will crack any minute purple monkey dishwasher” and “Sega Genesis or Game Gear” becomes “Mega Pegasus for Reindeer.”  This may be a less than thrilling way to pass the time if you are with a group of friends, the power goes out and all your phones die, but in business the game of telephone is a killer. 
When you look at the time and effort it takes to get a product or concept complete it can be quite extensive, even when done efficiently, so adding unnecessary reporting lines or “telephones” to the mix will only serve to delay the process, create cost overruns and what’s worse is cause the delivery of a final product that does not meet its intentions.  Of course, the bigger the product/process and the more “telephones” in between the more damaging and expensive this game will become.
In order to keep your process effective here are a few suggestions:
Keep your ears clean – It’s not enough to just listen, but you have to comprehend.  As advanced and structured as our language is, two people can hear the same thing and come away with two very different interpretations.  On top of that, people aren’t always sure of exactly what they want especially when it comes to processes they don’t understand.  So, you have to get to the root of the issues and find out what they really need by asking the right questions in the right way.
Keep reporting lines minimal– It is good to get a healthy amount of input into decisions, but if there are too many people with too much input a simple project can become more bloated than your uncle on thanksgiving and subsequently veer off target.  Also, make sure that those you have positioned toward the top are decision makers and know that they will be held accountable, because those with nothing to lose always seem to have lots of “good ideas.”
Keep the line open – Part of the problem of the telephone game (and what makes it “fun”) is that the originator of the message won’t know how their message has been interpreted until the very end and they have no chance to correct it along the way.  If you are tasked with improving a product for your customer based off of customer input then be sure to check in with them throughout the process.  Even if you get everything clear up front it’s always wise to touch base at intervals during the project.  The same goes for your decision makers and on down; just because you explained what was expected of somebody doesn’t mean they will produce exactly what you were looking for.  

In the end, communication is key, but you have to know which types of communication are most effective and with whom they are the most crucial.  Communicate with the right people and in the right way and the value of the message you send up front will be maintained in the end.

READ MORE

The Magic of Mortals

The Magic of Mortals

Daily we wake up to new developments in automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). Across sectors and industries, automated solutions prove highly successful in surpassing the capacity of the human brain for certain tasks, improving...

read more
Leveling Up: How to Hone Your Skills at Home

Leveling Up: How to Hone Your Skills at Home

Leaders have been trying to crack the code on talent development for years. Recent studies have shown, however, that strength-focused leadership [read: intentionally elevating the qualities that already come naturally to us] is the clear winner for developing talent...

read more
Fake Case Study: Jack of all trades vs. Master of One

Fake Case Study: Jack of all trades vs. Master of One

  Listen to any earnings call or executive presentation and you will likely hear the terms “top line” and “bottom line.” These are words used to describe a business’s performance. According to Investopedia, the words are defined as follows: Top line refers to the...

read more
Your Personality Is Showing

Your Personality Is Showing

There I was, minding my own business one evening, digging into my organization's SEO performance (as one does), when I came across something interesting. Search terms related to "MBTI" — or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, developed by Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel...

read more
Lessons From a Change Manager Who Hates Change

Lessons From a Change Manager Who Hates Change

Hello. My name is Monique, and I’m a change manager who hates change.   After years of receiving “consulting therapy” from various mentors, I am now able to say these words out loud and proudly. But for a long time, it felt more like an admission of guilt. I mean, who...

read more
Creativity as a Cure

Creativity as a Cure

The topic of creative solutioning has been front and center these days as we talk more and more about organizational adaptability in the face of dynamic and uncertain times. For example, I recently read about a project that got me thinking about specific priorities...

read more
Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company — Why Now?

Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company — Why Now?

Big news over here as we close out the year - we have been acquired by Pariveda, a 750-person consulting firm in 12 markets across North America! We are now “Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company” and I’ll be serving as the Managing Vice President continuing to lead...

read more
Thought Ensemble Joins Pariveda Solutions!

Thought Ensemble Joins Pariveda Solutions!

Dallas, December 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pariveda, a leader specializing in solving complex technology and business problems, announces the acquisition of Thought Ensemble. With the addition of Thought Ensemble, Pariveda now provides holistic business strategy,...

read more
Thoughts on Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

Thoughts on Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

It was about a year ago that we first started hearing about Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB19-085) and I knew it was going to be national news. We’d just gotten past the “Rocky Mountain High” jokes, and our lovely state was trying to break new ground...

read more