I was facilitating a workshop with a group of Louis Vuitton managers and we were exploring together what works well and what does not in the company.
In an organisation that they were generally thrilled to be part
of, top of the “what doesn’t work well here” list was
communication. “Nobody tells you anything around here,” said one. “I always
seem to be the last to know,” said another.
Then we did some sorting of the team into personality types and,
surprise-surprise, none of them were “bards”. None saw themselves as
strong communicators and none saw any of their colleagues as effective in that area.
Eureka! They all seemed to grasp at the same moment that the
problem was not them, but us. And, actually, not us but ME.
So what to do about it? The first solution usually proposed
in this situation is to develop a new internal newsletter. It’s never the
answer.
A few of the Louis Vuitton people decided that they could
and would change their behaviour. And others decided to start hiring people who
were strong bards.
Result!
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