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You might be familiar with the Archimedes Principle, the relevant point for us is the “aha” moment he had when he was sitting in a bath. The part where he got excited by his discovery and ran into the streets yelling “Eureka!” without putting on his clothes is not relevant. Modern day HR controls how excitement is displayed with a thick binder of workplace rules and guidelines.

Do your leaders get their “aha” moment when they are “immersed” in a problem or do they sit on the sidelines and be a “Monday morning quarterback.” Note: It is not always possible to be immersed in a problem. It may be expensive to immerse senior leadership in every problem they have to understand.

The point is, are you getting your data after immersing yourself in the problem? Or are you listening to someone who has immersed themselves in the problem. The correct answer is “Yes.”

Practical tip: Shut down or walk out of meetings if the loudest people are those who have not immersed themselves or have not talked to those who have immersed themselves in the agenda topic.