Volume XXIII, Number 21 (Issue 1130) | May 26, 2025
Organizational Intelligence
According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary, In-tel-li-gence (n.) is 1. The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills; 2. The collection of information of military or political value.
Qualifying intelligence with the term “organizational,” one wonders how much do any of us truly know about our organization? From what I have observed, the answer to that question depends upon certain things. For instance, is the question directed at our organization’s history? Perhaps it is aimed at reporting lines, structure, and culture. Or maybe the question revolves around our knowledge of our products and services offerings. Translation: do we know enough to feel confident and comfortable pitching our products to a prospect or answering a colleague or customer’s questions? There is also the issue of our organization’s corporate goals, strategies, financial performance, and succession plans. One more variant relates to what we know and understand about the opinions of our people and customers. Between ready to hit the exit and loyal to the core, where do those two constituents stand? Faced with such a wide range of possible topics, is it even possible to know about most, let alone all of these things?
In my experience there are multiple factors that will determine the answers to these and similar questions starting with the position one holds. Next comes the time available, the importance we place on being informed, the nature of internal communication, training content, practices and norms, and the way information is filtered (and spun) as it moves about the business. For example, in some organizations bad news tends to be filtered out as it moves upward while strategies and details are routinely lost in translation as they move downward and across the enterprise. Key aspects of that phenomenon are illustrated by the graphic below (credit for this representation goes to Critical Path Strategies, Inc.).
If you take a moment to study this diagram, you will see it portrays “knowledge of the truth” as having an inverse relationship to what is considered to be the traditional power structure. Conversely, the closer one is to the details, frontline, and customer, the less one is apt to know about the big picture and the strategies meant to create a desired future.
The irony is the more those on the frontline know about where the organization is going, the why, and their specific role in turning leadership’s vision into reality, the more likely it is their day-to-day decisions and actions will yield the desired success. Thus, the solution to this particular problem is more intentionality when it comes to sharing and reinforcing the what, the why, and the how underpinning leadership’s vision. The courage to speak truth to power also comes in handy. Of course, in the latter case, positional authority bears responsibility for creating a culture where they listen with the intent to learn and openness and honesty are the norm, not the exception.
As for solving the problem of not having enough time in the day, that is a particularly challenging issue since not one of us has the luxury of a twenty-seven-hour day. To counter that, we can embrace better time management practices. As for specifically addressing the organizational intelligence need,
one option is to employ an objective set of eyes and ears as a means to help gather and synthesize some of that essential intelligence. There are keys to making that work but we will save those for another day.
As for today, I hope you noticed the central tenet is the need for clarity, especially when it comes to communication.
Soli Deo Gloria
“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210)260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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Copyright 2025 by J. Keith Hughey. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for reproduction and redistribution of this essay as provided under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Recent issues of Musings may be found at www.jkeithhughey.com. Your comments are always welcome.