It really is one of the biggest ah-ha moments I had. And it's one of the hardest for leaders to dissect and address. The good news is that it is addressable, but first you have to acknowledge it.
It does indeed, and then it grows to include what was added (but not shared), what was learned (but not documented), and what is working and isn't working (but is not integrated).
Asking people what they actually heard is great advice! It’s strange how many senior leaders recommend always projecting certainty. I’ve always found it best to just be honest when I don’t know something. People often start making the wrong assumptions when you sound too certain, which just creates more problems later on.
You’re so right. And there’s a way of doing this that doesn’t have to feel like hovering or micromanagement.
It’s just a matter of setting up business rhythms with your team so that they can share what they are seeing and learning regularly with each other — not just with you.
Calibrating across people is where you can scale the check-ins and also the collective learning.
That’s the key: rhythms that scale calibration, not just status.
In AI builds, I’ve seen this break hard. Promo model’s discount logic made sense in sprint planning. Two weeks later, store managers breached supplier contracts because the decision went stale and no one re-checked the constraints.
Fix: 15-min weekly “constraint check” with product, ops, category manager. Not a demo. Just: “What assumption broke? Who owns the fix?”
Have you seen teams bake this in without it feeling like process theater?
I love that. I think the ones that have baked it in have made it more of a habit driven by one or two people.
I have yet to see this become a norm that is something integrated by the entire team. But I think it can be done. It just has to be a habit that everyone agrees to focus on for a few months.
The key is realizing you can’t integrate too many new behaviors at once. It’s better to focus, make progress, and then add more.
I love that. One of my bosses called that a "Standard Bearer" -- someone who holds the line. You need them until the organization integrates the practice. Love this and thank you for sharing!
The bit about silence not meaning alignment is the one that should make every leader slightly uncomfortable.
The fear to speak up is real. I experienced that context myself too, and Kathy’s advice is sound on this one.
It really is one of the biggest ah-ha moments I had. And it's one of the hardest for leaders to dissect and address. The good news is that it is addressable, but first you have to acknowledge it.
Confusion usually starts with what was never said clearly.
It does indeed, and then it grows to include what was added (but not shared), what was learned (but not documented), and what is working and isn't working (but is not integrated).
Asking people what they actually heard is great advice! It’s strange how many senior leaders recommend always projecting certainty. I’ve always found it best to just be honest when I don’t know something. People often start making the wrong assumptions when you sound too certain, which just creates more problems later on.
i keep seeing this play out. even when things feel clear in the moment, they don’t stay clear for long anymore.
tools change, priorities shift and AI gets added somewhere… and people end up working off slightly different versions again.
so at the end it’s not just ‘did people understand’, but it’s also how fast that understanding goes stale.
feels like you have to keep re-checking way more than before.
You’re so right. And there’s a way of doing this that doesn’t have to feel like hovering or micromanagement.
It’s just a matter of setting up business rhythms with your team so that they can share what they are seeing and learning regularly with each other — not just with you.
Calibrating across people is where you can scale the check-ins and also the collective learning.
That’s the key: rhythms that scale calibration, not just status.
In AI builds, I’ve seen this break hard. Promo model’s discount logic made sense in sprint planning. Two weeks later, store managers breached supplier contracts because the decision went stale and no one re-checked the constraints.
Fix: 15-min weekly “constraint check” with product, ops, category manager. Not a demo. Just: “What assumption broke? Who owns the fix?”
Have you seen teams bake this in without it feeling like process theater?
I love that. I think the ones that have baked it in have made it more of a habit driven by one or two people.
I have yet to see this become a norm that is something integrated by the entire team. But I think it can be done. It just has to be a habit that everyone agrees to focus on for a few months.
The key is realizing you can’t integrate too many new behaviors at once. It’s better to focus, make progress, and then add more.
That totally makes sense. the teams where this worked for me also had one or two people quietly protecting the habit.
Not a big process rollout. Just someone asking the same small question every week until it becomes normal.
Once people see it actually prevents a few problems, the resistance usually drops.
I love that. One of my bosses called that a "Standard Bearer" -- someone who holds the line. You need them until the organization integrates the practice. Love this and thank you for sharing!