Scenario

A new President of a fast-growing U.S. company just took the job to build and grow the Japan market. The first All Hands meeting speech was to motivate for change and growth. Some of the key parts of the All Hands speech were:

“I am very excited to be here with you. I have met many of you virtually, but virtual just isn’t the same as seeing you in person. I am glad to be here in Tokyo. Over the next month, I look forward to… These next six months are key. As you know we are growing and that’s a good thing. Along with growth, comes…. So, I want to make a key request. My request is for you to all to know that I don’t like surprises so let’s be clear and move ahead with strong teamwork.”

This message failed to communicate the objective and was completely misunderstood. It turned out that

•  b

  it was too much about action items and not about vision

•  c

  the comment, “I don’t like surprises” was taken to mean “I don’t want to hear bad news” and everyone tried hard to solve issues without involving the President

•  a

  it was too informal and so was not received well