L. Bart Adams

One afternoon I was speaking to my eleven-year-old daughter Ellie about the mushroom farm. I was explaining part of the mushroom growing process, and she nodded in agreement, but clearly, she did not understand what I was sharing. I looked at my wife for guidance, and she mouthed to me, “keep it simple.” So, I back-peddled a bit and tried to explain the concept in more simple terms. I’m afraid I was unsuccessful.

The following week, I attended a Vistage Executive Summit in Salt Lake City. One of the speakers presented an idea that we should use The Six and Sixty Rule in our communication. Six and sixty means keeping your communication simple enough for a six-year-old to understand and valuable enough for a sixty-year-old. As he shared this teaching with the group, I immediately thought about my conversation with Ellie. Unfortunately, that conversation ended without understanding or usefulness.

Language Challenges

The workforce at the mushroom farm is about 70% Hispanic, with Spanish being the primary and only language spoken. I, unfortunately, don’t speak or write Spanish. Therefore, I must have a translator for most of my communication with my Spanish-speaking employees. My translators often have difficulty sharing my thoughts because of my habit of speaking and writing in a more technical form.

Using the Six and Sixty rule has helped me in my communication with my employees. For the past several months, I have written a weekly newsletter. It has been a learning process to see which parts of the bulletin the employees read and understand. By using the rule, I’ve focused on simplifying the message without diluting the benefit to the readers.  It’s an ongoing challenge to share technical information with our employees, but the advantages of using this rule make it worth continuing the practice.

I hope this post has been easy to understand and valuable for all readers, regardless of age. Happy communication!

I have read and heard many definitions of CEO disease. Wikipedia defines it as “CEO disease,” which refers to the information vacuum around a leader; that arises when employees withhold relevant (or unpleasant) information.

In my experience, diagnosing CEO disease in the company is evident by one or more the following symptoms:

1. The CEO is the last person in the business to receive the bad news
2. The CEO does not get all of the information needed to make crucial decisions
3. Subordinates believe they are protecting the CEO by withholding some or all the necessary information

I recently discovered that I was suffering from CEO disease at my business. It’s been almost four years since I have been in this role, and only now am I uncovering the symptoms. I cannot say how long it’s been happening because, like sign number 1, the CEO is the last to know. The most recent incident had to do with several interpersonal conflicts among my office staff. When I got the bad news, I was blindsided by what was going on and surprised that they hadn’t brought the issue to my attention sooner, so I could help resolve it before it came to a head.

In light of my new understanding and study of this disease, I am currently using the following prescription to help fight this disease at our facility.

1. Don’t kill the messenger. How the CEO responds to terrible news makes an impression on the person delivering the message and can have a lasting impact on the CEO promptly receiving any bad news in the future.
2. Build trust with subordinates through weekly/monthly one-on-one meetings. Direct reports will be more apt to share valuable information if they trust you. Increasing the frequency of one-on-one sessions can help build this confidence and give the subordinate a forum to share helpful information with you.
3. Ask good questions. If the CEO is not getting all of the information, they are most likely not asking thoughtful questions. It is the leader’s responsibility to ensure that clarity exists in all communication with direct reports.  Asking the right questions is a way to deepen understanding and gain clarity.

I am making a special effort to apply this prescription and hope to rid myself of this fallible yet curable disease. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

A couple of months ago, one of our truck drivers, who makes deliveries to our customers, had a rough weekend and went AWOL. It started on Saturday morning when the driver called our assistant packing supervisor to tell him he had run into a parked van at one of his stops in Salt Lake City, Utah. He also said, “I quit!” The supervisor told him to bring the truck back to the farm, and we could talk about it when he got back, to which the driver agreed.

The supervisor called me after he got off the phone with the driver and told me about the situation. A short time later, I received a call from the owner of the damaged van to begin working on the insurance claim for repairs and a replacement vehicle until the vehicle was ready.

Fast forward to Sunday evening, about 10 pm, the packing supervisor called me and said the driver had not returned to the farm and he could not get a hold of him on his cell phone. He was at the County Sheriff’s office filing a missing person report. About an hour later, a deputy called me to get more information about the driver and the truck. I was anxious about him and wondered if I should travel to Salt Lake City to start looking for him that evening. The deputy said he would issue a statewide alert for the driver and hold off until the morning before deciding about going to look for him.

After a restless night, I went to the farm for our team huddle and discussed the issue with my team. After the huddle, I found the emergency contact phone numbers for the driver and made a call. The first number I called was for his mother, who was living in Idaho. She was crying when I called and said her son had just called her and told her he was “leaving the truck at the Salvation Army in Ogden, Utah.” He didn’t tell her where he was going or what happened, which upset her.

At this point, we knew the truck was in Ogden, and we needed to get it back to Fillmore. So, the packing supervisor and I hopped in my vehicle with the mission of retrieving the equipment. (The supervisor has a CDL, so he plans to drive the tractor and trailer back to the farm.)  In the meantime, I received a call from our sales manager who called our customers all morning to see if they had seen our driver.  One of our clients, located in Odgen, responded that the driver had been there that morning to make a delivery, but he didn’t have any mushrooms and was not scheduled to make a delivery.

We later found out that our driver who was expected to make the delivery to that customer saw the missing driver at this client’s dock, and he had blood on his face and was acting “crazy.”

“He was acting so crazy that I didn’t get out of my truck to talk to him and left as soon as I could,” said the other driver.

The deputy who had interviewed me the night prior called me to report that they had not found the driver but that the cell phone he had been using was reported stolen to the Salt Lake City Police. I gave him the new information and told him we were on our way to retrieve the tractor and trailer.

At this point, we located the truck, the driver’s cell phone had been reported stolen, and that the driver’s behavior was erratic, and he appeared to be disoriented.  We also think he is still in the Ogden area.

We thought that’s what we knew. Shortly after that, the packing supervisor called the missing driver, who told him that he was moving the truck from the Salvation Army to the Flying J gas station on 21st Street and I-15 in Ogden. I then called the Weber County Police Department to report the incident and asked them to secure the truck until I got there. They called back 30 minutes later and said they could not find the truck and trailer at the gas station. I asked them to check the Salvation Army. They found the equipment at the Salvation Army, and they secured the vehicle until our arrival. Only now are we sure we have located the truck.

We make our way to the Salvation Army in Ogden, and as we pull up to the truck, I see the missing driver sitting in the truck?!  I thought they had secured the vehicle? I pulled into a parking lot across the street and got out of the vehicle. He sees the packing supervisor and me and gets out of the truck to visit with us. As he approaches, we are standing in the parking lot, and he has a black leather jacket on with something under the jacket, which makes it stick out awkwardly.

I asked, “Are you okay? We’ve been trying to contact you for two days? What happened?”

He was agitated and pacing back-and-forth and from side-to-side about 3 or 4 paces, and he would not look at either of us. He said, “Sorry about this Dave, I know I screwed up here, but when this all settles down, I need to talk to you at the farm about this job.” My name is not Dave, and he was agitated. At this point, I felt like he was on drugs. I was concerned.

He went on to tell the story of his weekend. He describes how after he hit the parked van and called the supervisor to quit, he went to one of his friends in Salt Lake, as he put it, “to get a lady friend to watch him sleep.” Well, he got two ladies-of-the-night to join him that night at a hotel in downtown Salt Lake. He assured me he just wanted them to watch him sleep. But while he was asleep, they stole his cash, cell phone, and his last paycheck. The following day he took the truck to Ogden. He said he “needed to find a gun so he could take care of some stuff.” At his point, I immediately said, “Do you have a gun on you?” He avoided the question and went on. I repeated more firmly, “Do you have a gun?” He said, “no, I’m just talking smack.” (In his more colorful language.)

He went on to describe how he met “Pastor Dan,” who was helping him out. He pointed behind the trailer, and there was a man in a hoodie sitting in a car, watching our conversation. He was in the getaway car. I asked, “What church does “Pastor Dan” preach from?” He replied,”the Salvation Army church,” as he pointed to the building behind us.

At this point, I told him I needed to call the cops to bring us the key so we could take the truck back to the farm, and they needed to ask him some questions because of the missing person report we had filed.  He argued with me for a minute about how he could see the cops, and then he turned and ran to the getaway car with “Pastor Dan” and drove off. The packing supervisor wrote down the license plate as I called the Weber County Police to report the vehicle information and details about the incident.

We then retrieved the key to the tractor, and the supervisor drove it home. As we inspected the tractor before the supervisor began the trip, we found the CB Radio was missing. I can only assume that is what the driver had under his jacket. Also, you may be asking, why was the driver sitting in the truck when we pulled up? The cops took the keys out when securing the vehicle, locked the doors, and left the windows down 4-5 inches. So, he was able to reach in and open the door.

Learning Experience

What did I learn from this experience? He mentioned when we saw him at the truck that he needed to talk to me about the job. I can infer from this comment that he was having some issues with his job. It’s clear to me he was having personal problems, as well, with the tale of sex, drugs, and guns over the wild weekend. What I gleaned from this is that my communication with this employee was not open enough to talk to me about the issues he was facing, both personally and professionally. I wish he would have told me before he went AWOL.  You never know how you can influence someone with a thoughtful word or conversation.

The driver mentioned that he had been off-the-grid for seven years, meaning he had spent time in prison. He said, “for the past three years, I’ve had to bust my @$$ to stay out of prison.” My response was, “Why is that so hard? Just make good choices.” I don’t completely understand his background, and I wasn’t trying to pass judgment. But I do know this, who we are in this is a direct result of our choices. This experience reinforced this idea in my mind.

The Curse of Knowledge is a communication problem when someone has vast experience and knowledge on a particular subject. They unknowingly assume everyone around them understands what they are referencing.  They expect people to read their minds because the subject matter and ideas are so obvious to them.

This curse is most evident in the workplace with new hires. It is easy for their immediate supervisors (often with years of experience) to overlook “simple” concepts during the training process.

Years ago, while conducting an orientation with a new front-line employee in our conference room, I offered the employee a cup of coffee, to which he obliged. The next day during his morning break, he came to the meeting room and got a cup of coffee, and sat down at the conference table with the entire management team. This room is where the management team met each morning for their morning break to discuss any issues related to the farm. After a short awkward silence and some confused glances from the managers, I had to politely escort him out of the room and direct him to the relevant break area. It was my fault. The “Curse of Knowledge” had set in, as I had assumed he would find the break room. Up to this point, it was not part of our orientation to show new hires the break area. I promptly added this to our orientation procedure.

How do you break the curse?

In a boiling cauldron, add two frog eyes, a tongue of a newt, and wild boar urine. In the previous example, there was confusion on such a simple issue. Imagine the most severe consequences that could occur if you cannot break the curse—for instance, overlooking a critical safety measure that could lead to an injury. Here are a few ideas that I have used or encouraged with my team to help with breaking the curse.

1. Over-communication – You can never get into trouble with over-communicating. There is a paradox to over-communicating; because you are so familiar with the subject, it feels like you are over-communicating, while the recipient is simply getting “new” information.
2. Checklists – Using a list is a great way to make sure you train on all relevant topics and that no stone gets left unturned. I recently read an excellent book about this concept, The Checklist Manifesto. I highly recommend reading this for more ideas.
3. Repetition – Repeat training programs at least annually or more frequently, depending on the nature of the work. For example, during a monthly safety meeting to review significant safety concerns, it may be a good time to refresh your employees on an HR policy. This process helps increase understanding and clarifies policies and procedures with staff.

Each of these ideas is a tool for more efficient communication.  A corollary that applies to each of these tools is to answer the “why” for those you are communicating with, even if they don’t ask.  Answering the “why” gives clarity and purpose to the knowledge you’re trying to convey. As a leader, I’ve learned that I must consistently and continuously improve my communication skills, but I assumed you already knew that?!

Have you ever walked into a room full of strangers, took one look, and had the desire to turn around and walk out?  I recently had the opportunity to attend an open house for a marketing association through which the mushroom farm belongs. The purpose of the meeting was to learn about the organization’s plan for the coming year and make business connections with other members, otherwise known as networking. I didn’t see a soul, and I could feel my introvert-induced anxiety, and I approached a vendor table to break the ice. We spoke briefly about their offering and quickly discovered no mutually beneficial relationship, and I left to “work the crowd.” As I walked around, I looked around, hoping to make eye contact that could help me break into a conversation, but I had no success. It seemed that everyone there knew each other, and as they fraternized, there was no room for this outsider. This tale does not have a happy ending. I made my way to the food table, grabbed a quick appetizer and a drink, and left the open-house in earnest.

As I have reflected on this experience, I have felt inadequate and disappointed in my ability to follow through on my purpose for the meeting, which was to network and make meaningful business connections that could improve my business.

If you’re an introvert like me, networking can be a pretty intimidating proposition.  It has never been easy for me, particularly in a group setting, to form meaningful connections in hopes of building a relationship quickly.  Whether it be a personal or business relationship, it is the same.

What Did I Learn?

I build my network in small groups or one-on-one.  As I look at my network, I can pinpoint almost 90% of them I met through a referral or introduction in a small group, 3-4 people. I’ve also learned that I do have a network just because I don’t have success networking in large crowds—an essential and robust network.  I have realized that I have built a network that has provided many opportunities both professionally and personally over time.  My network has also been one that I have been able to contribute my ideas and talents.

As human animals, I tend to box up our networks into the different categories in our lives, i.e., personal, religious, work-related, etc. However, I submit to the idea that we’re living a whole life, and there are no such clearly defined distinctions in our networks.  Particularly in small towns. My dear friend who also lives in Fillmore, Utah, has said on many occasions, “In small towns, there are many opportunities to step on each other’s toes.” We can interact with our network on many levels and in various settings, and that’s okay.

Value of Your Network

I didn’t think I’ve understood the value of my network until I purchased the mushroom farm. (In fact, I had to dig deep in my network to buy the farm.)  I had owned several businesses before, and as I reflect on those experiences, any success or failure in those ventures directly resulted from my network. Here are some examples of how my network has helped me in life:

• I recently finished the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business class at Salt Lake Community College.  This class was a 14-week business course about growing my business, almost an MBA on steroids. I learned about this through a member of Strategic Coach, a business coaching program I was involved with for three years.
• To purchase the farm, I went to 13 banks and ultimately worked with Rock Canyon Bank, whose president was from Fillmore and had a long history with my family and the farm. (Looking back, I should have gone to him first!)
• When I needed a corporate attorney to handle the transaction of purchasing the mushroom farm, I mentioned it casually to Mountain View’s health insurance broker over lunch, who referred me to his son-in-law, Paul Jones.  It was a great fit, and he helped me secure the deal.
• I am a member of a Vistage group in Salt Lake City.  I was able to renegotiate pricing on our boxes used to package our mushrooms after a discussion of scrap prices from a group member.
• Our box broker recommended a car dealership in Spanish Fork when I told him my family was looking for a van for my growing family. That was in 2005, and we are still using that van. Incidentally, I just met with the dealership again last week about purchasing another vehicle.

These are just a few examples of how my network has immense value in my business and personal life.