Tell It Like It Is

John Kotter on how to ward off an inward focus and start recognizing new opportunities, helping you identify hazards from competitors, customers, or regulatory changes. “Usually top management shields people from disquieting news. Then when they try to initiate significant changes, a low sense of urgency within middle management makes execution painfully difficult. The change effort eventually fails or falls far short of top management’s aspirations.” “The choice is clear. Do you want to risk short-term problems, or do you want to shield people from relevant external information, allow complacency to remain too high, and ultimately to undermine an organization’s future?”