The Emperor's Naked - Do You Tell Him?
Early in my career, I was presented with a problem. We had launched a new product feature that was highly anticipated. I was unsure about whether or not it would be something that people would want to use, but it fit the OKRs we were chasing and I was volun-told by management to push it to the finish line.
Launch month came and went. I pulled the metrics.
No one used it.
Not limited use.
Not a bit of use and bouncing.
No one used it.
In fact, customers repeatedly stated they hated it.
The monitoring we used was whether our new feature could drive more cross-sales. As I poured through it, no needle had moved. Customers actively gave feedback that the thing I wanted to originally build was the right thing to build.
Now, in a week, we were due to give an update to two-down from the CEO of a major Fortune 500.
Well, shit
I put together my metrics, story, and recommendation and approached my manager who was not pleased.
Confused, I went to my mentor who told me "The Emperor is naked, and you just told him. Perhaps suggest it is a bit chilly and he might prefer a coat."
Working with him, we shifted the exact same metrics, but to say that we had "kept sales steady in a time of difficult sales," and to continue perhaps we make a shift here or there to go towards my plan.
The management team loved it.
So, do you tell the Emperor they're naked?
I try not to, but in some cases it is justified. If your organization operates off of politics and not ideas, then don't tell them they're naked. If your organization prefers coffee chats to hackathons, then don't tell them they're naked.
You can bowl through people for a while, but no one likes someone who cannot sit in polite company at larger company (with a few exceptions).
But, if you are at a company that does value arguments and ideas, then never shy from the truth.
You tell them they're naked and they need to put some clothes on, goddamit.