When managers can't handle the truth

(upbeat music)…- One of the difficulties people report…in engaging in intelligent disobedience…is getting their manager to hear some truth,…getting them to listen.…I always think of Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men…saying, "You can't handle the truth."…Really it's just the opposite in this case.…You're trying to get your manager to acknowledge some truth.…It is your responsibility however in the essence…of intelligent disobedience, in the spirit…of intelligent disobedience to acknowledge that truth.…

Put it on the table and address it.…So there's four things I can share with you…as a means of trying to get through this,…you can't handle the truth problem.…The first is be persistent.…You have to try more than once.…Second, think in terms of a multiple choice question.…You don't want to be perceived like the cat…that just walks in and coughs up a hairball,…just brings a problem and walks away.…Present it as a multiple choice question.…Boss, you've got this issue.…I was thinking about it, talked to a few people,…I think we have four options to address it…