Golden Oldies: If the Shoe Fits: Wave Deafness
by Miki SaxonIt’s amazing to me, but looking back over more than a decade of writing I find posts that still impress, with information that is as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies are a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time.
When I wrote this originally it was aimed directly at entrepreneurs, especially the ones who don’t seem to hear their people very often — if at all.
Coming across it five years later I decided it’s so apropos across the board that it definitely qualified as a golden oldie.
Read other Golden Oldies here.
A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
Last year I wrote about Tony Hsieh’s approach to employee empowerment, featuring some great quotes from him.
As I said then, the thing that sets Hsieh apart is security.
Hsieh is comfortable in his own skin; secure in his own competency and limitations, so he doesn’t need to be the font from which all else flows.
Entrepreneurs can learn from this.
Startup hiring usually comes in waves as the company progresses.
While most founders will listen to their initial team and first few hires, those hired later often find it difficult to get their ideas heard.
Unfortunately, this behavior often sets a pattern, with the ideas and comments of each successive wave becoming fainter and fainter and those employees less and less engaged—and that translates to them caring less and less about your company’s success—call it wave deafness.
Wave deafness is costly.
Costly in productivity and passion, but even more costly in lost opportunities.
As Hsieh points out, there is no way he can think of as many good ideas as are produced if each employee has just one good idea in a year.
And not just from certain positions. I never heard of a manager, let alone a founder, admit to hiring dummies for any position, no matter the level.
So if you hire smart people and don’t listen to them, who is the dummy?
Image credit: HikingArtist
