I asked the question and the room fell silent.

I asked the question and the room fell silent.

Not a good kind of silent. The ‘not going to play’ kind. And that reaction was my error entirely.

The group were from a big corporate. Responsible for IT finance, or finance, or something like that. Honestly, I can’t remember.

And that was the error.

I hadn't done my homework. No pre-engagement. Poor scoping

It happens!

I assumed this group would be like the others I’d worked with. Those with a mission, who wanted to transform their situation, make a bigger impact.

But this group wanted to preserve the status quo, maybe do some diddly-squat incremental improvements, but certainly not to innovate.

I was early into my new business, facilitating higher performance. I hadn’t learnt at that stage that the group and its leader must have bought into that idea.

It wasn’t my role to evangelise it — but that’s what I tried to do.

And failed.

What followed was a session where I pushed the performance agenda harder, and the group stayed unmoved.

Not aggressive. Not even passive-aggressive. Just intransigent.

You’re probably wondering what the question was. Fairly tame compared to some I’ve asked...

“If you could create something here, not because the company expects it, but for the sheer hell of achieving excellence you’re proud of... what would that look like?”

And I heard crickets.

Good question. Wrong audience.

Ouch!

Tell me, what’s something you’ve said or done that caused a similar reaction?