Ode to Candor

It is currently my pleasure to teach a unit for graduating business majors at Concordia University, here in Saint Paul. The unit is intended to help the students grasp and apply concepts of business ethics and strategy.   Starting next week, we’ll be discussing corporate social responsibility. Students will use the einsight e-quiz, an online introduction to the concepts of the SAIP, to evaluate some model companies, and we’ll discuss the findings.     

 

Thankfully, the students have been clear in asking for what they need. Before we talk about enterprise-wide strategies for social responsibility, they wanted to consider business ethics from a more personal perspective. We talked about bringing personal values and ethical perspectives to the workplace. We also discussed, in very practical and specific terms, how to talk about ethical issues with superiors, peers, and subordinates. The discussion left me with a renewed appreciation of the power of candor in our business lives.

 

Candid communicators speak their minds. Effective ones do so tactfully, to a degree appropriate to the situation.  Honesty is necessary but not sufficient for true candor: an honest speaker may share all or part of what he believes to be true, while a candid speaker shares what she is thinking, what she believes to be true, and why.  That’s a high bar, requiring both self-awareness and a keen sense of the situation. It also requires courage, at times, to truly and accurately express thoughts and beliefs. The payoff can be equally high, though. Meetings achieve the best possible outcomes when knowledgeable people share openly. Trust is established because – well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? We tend to trust people who are richly and fully honest with us.

 

Moreover, a lack of candor can be costly. Years ago, I found myself splitting a week between clients in San Diego and Stamford, CT. Monday and Tuesday, we worked in San Diego, hearing nothing but vaguely positive feedback from that client. We then flew east, and spent the rest of the week being criticized, pointedly and at times profanely, by the second client, who was concerned about the emerging direction of our work.   By Friday, my longing for Southern California went well beyond the weather. 

 

The San Diego client terminated our work shortly after our sunny sessions, without ever explaining why. An expensive project was shelved at its midpoint. They never returned my calls. Nobody won. In Connecticut, we changed direction based on the client’s input, and successfully completed the project. Last I heard, the products of our work were still in use years later.

 

Communicating candidly and clearly can be difficult. Often, we’re afraid to say what is on our minds, for fear of exposing ourselves to criticism or ridicule. We may pull our punches to avoid embarrassing or offending our friends, or obscure our true beliefs to avoid arming our adversaries. Sometimes discretion is in order; determining the appropriate level of candor can a delicate process in and of itself. Even when it is appropriate, candid communication requires courage and skill.

 

The manner of communication be appropriate to the audience. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall and others have described a distinction between high-context and low-context cultures. The distinction is rich and interesting, but for our purposes I will summarize as follows. Low-context cultures rely primarily on the words that are spoken, and high-context cultures require that speakers and listeners understand a great deal more about the way in which those words are used, by whom, and under what circumstances.  

 

The standard examples of high-context cultures include China, where often what is said in a meeting is less important than who says it, or even where people are seated at the table. I would argue that we need not travel so far to find high-context communication in action. Even in, say, South Dakota, the word “yes,” spoken with a particular, sharp intake of breath, can mean, (for us low-context folks) “over my dead body.” I’m told it’s the same in Japan.

 

Overcoming challenges to clear communication is everyone’s responsibility. Speakers must be courageous about sharing what is truly on their minds, and both sensitive and knowledgeable enough to do so in ways which are well-understood by everyone involved and appropriate to the situation. Listeners likewise must engage all their senses, and interpret what they hear and see based on an enlightened understanding of context. How many times have you misconstrued an email because you couldn’t see a twinkling eye or hear a playful tone of voice?

 

I learned the hard way in San Diego. In retrospect, it seems likely that I was the only one in the room who was anticipating our next meeting. Whether that miscommunication was a pure lack of candor, or whether they were candid but I missed the cues, will never be known (at least not without some long-overdue returned phone calls). Considerable time and money were wasted as a result.

 

Establishing and maintaining an environment where people can communicate candidly and respectfully isn’t always easy, but it is worth the effort. Much of the value of a truly diverse working team can be lost if participants cannot openly share ideas and perspectives. The effectiveness of communication across teams or companies can make or break deals. In every business context, the critical element of trust depends upon communication that is richly truthful and mutually clear.

 

That’s what I really think.