Unveiling Uncomfortable Truths: A Guide to Facing the Brutal Facts

Let’s chat about the not-so-pleas­ant issues that peo­ple tend to avoid — what Jim Collins calls the Bru­tal Facts — how we can con­front them and turn them into some­thing positive.

I once worked with a great com­pa­ny that hit a rough patch with their finance team. The CFO, who had been a star and grown with the com­pa­ny, was sud­den­ly drown­ing in respon­si­bil­i­ties. The demands of the role had sky­rock­et­ed, but the team had­n’t kept the same pace of growth and was let­ting the com­pa­ny down. The CEO knew it but pre­ferred to sweep it under the rug.

Dur­ing our two-day strate­gic plan­ning meet­ing for this com­pa­ny, we uncov­ered the harsh real­i­ty that the finance team sim­ply could­n’t give the busi­ness what it needed.

Most folks tend to avoid such touchy top­ics because they don’t know how to deal with them and don’t want to embar­rass their col­leagues in front of everyone.

So, we devel­oped some tools to dig deep and deal with bru­tal facts, in a respect­ful and pro­fes­sion­al way

1. Iden­ti­fy the most impor­tant bru­tal fact that needs to be addressed
2. Make a list about the facts relat­ing to the bru­tal fact
3. Ask the appro­pri­ate peo­ple to work on a pro­posed action plan or options to address it
4. Decide and exe­cute your plan, based on the findings.

When you stick to the facts, it’s eas­i­er to have a con­struc­tive debate and act towards a res­o­lu­tion ver­sus look­ing at opin­ions and judgements.

The Chal­lenge

• What’s the biggest bru­tal fact you and your team you and your team need to dis­cuss now?
• When can you sched­ule time to gath­er the facts and have the discussion?

If you need a help­ing hand to tack­le the bru­tal facts head-on in your busi­ness, don’t hes­i­tate to reach out.

Addi­tion­al Podcasts

• Con­front the Bru­tal Facts
• Mak­ing Dif­fi­cult Decisions

Addi­tion­al Blogs

• Con­front the Bru­tal Facts & Expel the Elephants
• How to Make Peo­ple Decisions
• The Cost of Doing Nothing

Lawrence & Co’s work focus­es on sus­tain­able and enhanced growth for you and your busi­ness. Our diverse and expe­ri­enced group of advi­sors can help your lead­ers and exec­u­tive teams stay com­pet­i­tive through the use of var­i­ous learn­ing tools includ­ing work­shops, webi­na­rs, exec­u­tive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achiev­ing lead­ers to have it all – a great busi­ness and a reward­ing life. Con­tact us for sim­ple and impact­ful advice. No BS. No fluff.