The higher you climb the less you see
And four ways to lift the blindfold
The human body is an incredible piece of engineering. Nothing man has created, comes close.
In the body, the blood-brain works to protect against circulating toxins or pathogens that could cause brain infections, while at the same time allowing vital nutrients to reach the brain.
In business, the blood-brain barrier is what happens when middle managers select what information gets from the front line to senior management. By senior, I mean board level, director, etc., whatever the top level is in your organisation. The system works well in the body, less so in business.
How to tell you have a blocked filter
If you hear these five words, you know you have a blocked filter, “You can’t tell them that.” Another example commonly heard up and down the corridors is, “I could never take that to the board.”
The problem for high growth businesses is that the more they grow, the more they are removed from the front line. As they hire people into the middle, these people bring too much self-interest and too much fear. I’m not knocking middle managers. I think it’s the toughest job in business, as I wrote in this article on the eight reasons why. They are also the group of people I love to work with.
