Glen is a VP at a large multi-national construction company. He was in one of the training sessions where I use the Asch experiment to make a point about whether or not people are willing to disagree with their leadership and tell the truth.
The Experiment
On the screen was a slide with four vertical bars. Three were on the left side labeled A, B, and C — each a different height. On the right was a fourth bar marked Target, and it was very obviously the same height as B.
A few days before the workshop I asked the CEO to pick a few members of the executive team. We swore them to secrecy and gave them these instructions: When I ask which bar the target matches, your answer is A. No matter what I say, no matter what I do, your answer is A.
As we went around the large conference table, you could read the body language of those not in on the secret. Some people held themselves so still, you couldn't see them breathe. They didn't blink. They tried not to show any signs that they were confused, disagreed, or wondering whether their leaders had completely lost their minds.
Eventually, we got to the tenth team member, Glen. When I asked him for his answer, Glen stammered, "I might get fired for saying this, but I don't agree with you. The answer is not A. It is B."
The Big Room
The next day the session included the executive team and the rest of the managers and supervisors — over 60 people. The slide went up. All eleven execs said "A." After they finished we opened the question up to the room. No one spoke up.
Somewhere around six minutes into this, a young woman slowly raised her left hand, her right hand pushing her left elbow up as if her muscles weren't responding. She raised her chin, stood up, squared her shoulders, and said, "I might get fired for saying this, but I don't agree with you. The answer is B."
At this point, one of the best moments I have ever witnessed in a training session happened. Chris, the CEO, stood up and said, "You're right! It is B!" He looked around the room and said, "The point of this exercise is to show you that even if the leadership team all agrees on an answer, we can all be wrong. We need you to step up and tell the truth as you see it!"
The Killer Thought
People were afraid of losing their jobs when all we were talking about were four bars on a slide with no meaning whatsoever.
Are you confident that your people feel safe enough to tell you the truth?
Safety begins with leadership. Before people will open up to you, they need three things:
- They need to be able to admit to themselves that they are struggling and need outside help.
- They need to believe that they are safe in admitting it and won't lose their job.
- They need to know you have their back and won't shame or embarrass them.