‘The number one barrier is fear of what the impact is going to be of saying the truth. So, the impact could be you're going to judge me. The impact could be I'm going to expose myself as someone who you don't like, or is an imposter, or doesn't know what's going on.
A second one is people essentially feeling that it would just take too much time, energy, effort to do it. And I think in the workplace, especially these days, especially post-COVID, people are exhausted. And they're constantly making a calculation, is it worth bringing this up? Is it worth telling the truth? Because it's going to take a lot of emotional energy to do that.
A third one is people don't... They don't have the words. Sometimes they know that the way it's occurring to them is, "You're a complete jerk." But if I say that, it's just going to make it worse. Or sometimes they just don't know actually how to put it. They actually might want to raise it, but they just don't literally know how to put it. And raising things, as we know, and telling the truth, is a skill, and they may not have learned that skill.
And sometimes it's just like, I don't think that you could actually do anything with what I'm going to say, or I don't trust you're going to act on it.’
Why do people withhold information from each other? Why are some of the smartest, successful people the worst at learning from each other?
Jeff Wetzler is on a quest to transform learning opportunities, both in business and in education. If we want to create a workforce for the future, with skills that cannot be replaced by AI, he explains, we have to do things differently not just within an organisation but at every stage of the education journey.
Jeff is the former chief learning officer at Teach for America and is currently CEO of innovation organisation, Transcend. In his new book, ‘Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You’, he outlines the origins and steps of his Ask Approach™ framework, starting with Curiosity.
To find out more on how to improve the communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills needed to tackle global challenges, from climate change to inequality to polarisation, listen to this Provocateurs podcast. Here, Jeff is chatting with Steve Goldbach, Principal and Sustainability, Climate & Equity Leader at Deloitte, and Stuart Crainer, co-founder of Thinkers50.
This episode will be available on 16 May 2024.
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Learn more about the Provocateurs podcast, the hosts, and access all episodes here: thinkers50.com/provocateurs/
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This podcast is part of an ongoing series of interviews with executives. The executives’ participation in these articles are solely for educational purposes based on their knowledge of the subject and the views expressed by them are solely their own. This podcast should not be deemed or construed to be for the purpose of soliciting business for any of the companies mentioned, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse the services or products provided by these companies.