Cognitive Dissonance Cripples Manufacturers

If ambiguity is a major problem within your manufacturing organization your leadership likely demonstrates cognitive dissonance with regularity. Hypocrisy at its most obvious, cognitive dissonance is the discomfort that arises from holding two opposing views at the same time.

If your leadership team doesn’t suffer that discomfort but your people can feel that you should, you likely say one thing and do another. People are your most important resource yet they are not treated with respect for the whole person, they are suspect in their explanations, and they are the first to be cut when cash flow suffers.

Suppliers are your partners, yet you unilaterally extend payment terms when you want, and violate contract commitments when you choose to.

If your organization has a stated mission and declares core values, but behaves to the contrary, your people cannot help but be living in ambiguity that the leadership is needlessly creating.

Successful and enduring businesses actively look for cognitive dissonance within and bring those conversations to the surface. Professional disagreement is one thing; talking out of both sides of your mouth another entirely. Cognitive dissonance is not about disagreement among people but within a single person. When that person is in leadership, the entire organization is put in that uncomfortable position.

Look out for those disconnects, discuss and resolve them, and save your company the wasted energy and time they create. Otherwise you’ll be limping along until you can walk no further.