The truth is the first thing to go
When you go from being powerless
To powerful
Even the small shift from being 3 guys/gals in a garage
To a funded company with 10 employees
You are a despot who controls their destiny
The CEO becomes the last to know
“Truth decay”
is a force like entropy
That infects all organizations, especially those that succeed
The more you succeed
The more blind the leader becomes
Underlings trend toward supplication
Especially amongst people at the bottom, once or twice removed in the hierarchy
It starts in subtle ways
The CEO walks in the room and people hush up
Employees secretly know X is stupid
But they think the CEO knows about X’s issues and wants it anyway
When in reality the CEO may not even know that X exists
A bubble of fluff begins to form around the CEO
Few leaders want people to lie to them
None of the good ones do, at least
But like entropy, the truth decays
The more power, the more success you have
The more the team grows
The more layers there are between you & the people doing the real work
The more it happens
It’s happened to me before
It was shocking to see
How was this possible?
Our team was only 12 people
Months before, I was just a dude with a dream & a couple co-founders
It didn’t make sense
Later, I realized
The only way to fight truth decay
Is to accept that it is real
Like entropy
And apply energy to the system
To FIGHT it
Fight the bubble of lies & half truths that people want to tell you
Create the conditions for honesty
Demand the truth
Make it safe
Apply energy to the system
Create an emotional & professional safe space for employees
Especially for the weakest & most vulnerable amongst you
Especially for the people at the bottom of your organization
ASK the people doing the real work what they think
“Do you really believe what you’re saying?”
“What are we doing wrong?”
“What are we doing that is stupid?”
“What are you afraid to say?”
Look for hesitancy
Pay attention to body language
Press for detail
Assume that, on some level, you’re being lied to
As a leader, truth decay is my greatest fear
It is why “speak truth to power” is our #1 company value
It is why we look for people who speak the truth
Even when it might make them look stupid
Especially when it costs them something
As a leader, I cannot control the market
I cannot even really influence it
But I can control the amount of truth that gets spoken inside the organization
Ultimately, I am responsible for our collective success
And I know of no better, more reliable path to success
Yet, despite my grand pronouncements & best intentions
I still don’t like it when you call my baby ugly
I am human
Fallible
Egotistical
An idiot sometimes
We all are
But I try
When I fail on this, I try to acknowledge it & recover quickly
As we grow, I know that my failures will influence the company
Which is scary
Because at 38 years old, I am still a work in progress
And our culture of truth but an infant
That will not survive if I neglect it
If you are a leader of humans
You’re not special
This applies to you
I promise
