Returning from London at the end of 2009, I found myself catapulted into the fabulous world of Italian youth entrepreneurship, from where I began to take inspiration for the following reflection: it is useless to try to explain things to people who are unable to appreciate their meaning. Which is to say: if you speak in Italian to a German, who does not know the language, you waste time.
You waste time because it is not possible for the person listening to you to understand something and therefore benefit from what you are saying. Although the content you post in French is highly relevant to the person listening to you, resign yourself that this person will not understand what you are saying.
I made this very simple and only partially fitting example to try to convey the idea of how sometimes it is simply not possible to explain certain concepts to certain people.
But since I have no particular authority on certain issues, I thought I'd try to apply the myth of Plato's cave to my managerial experiences and - in particular - to the differences between Anglo-Saxon and Italian managerial theory and practices if they can be defined as such.
The Myth of Plato's Cave
Imagine prisoners who have been chained, since birth, in the depths of a cave. Not only the limbs, but also the head and neck are blocked, so that the eyes of the unfortunate can only stare at the wall in front of them.
Imagine being in Bologna, or any other city, since birth and having worked only and exclusively in a local company where a certain thing has always been done in a certain way, because it has always been like this and no one has ever complained. .
It is also thought that a huge fire was lit behind the prisoners and that, between the fire and the prisoners, there is a causeway. Along this road a low wall has been erected along which some men carry shapes of various objects, animals, plants and people. The shapes would cast their shadow on the wall and this would attract the attention of the prisoners. If any of the men carrying these forms spoke, an echo would form in the cave that would make the prisoners think that this voice comes from the shadows they see passing on the wall.
Imagine that from time to time things happen in the company that grab your attention and take part of your time to be looked at, discussed, fixed or fixed.
While an external character would have a complete idea of the situation, the prisoners, not knowing what really happens behind them and having no experience of the outside world (chained since childhood), would be led to interpret the "talking" shadows as objects, real animals, plants and people.
While the consulting firm on duty has seen a few more business cases than you, some even from some companies a little more grown up than yours and even some successful cases, they could guess that the machinery that continues to break down and that you continue to repair should be replaced with a new and much more efficient one that is available on the market, you may instead think that it is normal for the machinery to break down and that it must be repaired every time it costs whatever it takes.
Suppose a prisoner is released from the chains and is forced to stand, with his face facing the cave exit: first, his eyes would be dazzled by the sunlight and he would feel pain. Furthermore, the shapes carried by men along the wall would seem less real to him than the shadows he is used to; even if those objects were shown to him and the source of light indicated, the prisoner would still remain doubtful and, suffering as he stared at the fire, would prefer to turn towards the shadows.
Suppose at some point your boss tells you, now do what the consulting firm says, take your working day, the one you used to produce before, and start making Excel and Powerpoint files that you don't know. you understand nothing and that you do not know how to use from 9:00 to 18:00. At this point you should find yourself already more in the sensation experienced in the previous paragraph.
Similarly, if the victim were forced to leave the cave and were exposed to direct sunlight, he would be blinded and would not be able to see anything. The prisoner would certainly be uncomfortable and would be irritated by being dragged by force to that place.
Similarly, if the victim were forced to stop working completely to take up a managerial position in which he was forced to work eight hours a day on development plans and project progress control, as well as manage personnel who are not interested in being managed, he could be in trouble or uncomfortable.
Wanting to get used to the new situation, the prisoner would initially be able to distinguish only the shadows of the people and their images reflected in the water; only with the passage of time could it hold the light and look at the objects themselves. Subsequently, he could, at night, turn his gaze to the sky, admiring the celestial bodies more easily than during the day. Finally, the freed prisoner would be able to see the sun itself, rather than its reflection in the water, and would understand that:
With a lot of effort and a little help, our new manager would immediately be able to read, understand and update some data and within a certain period of time he will probably be able to understand the details of the new job and also provide a contribution to the improvement of managerial practices implemented up to that moment.
| "It is it that produces the seasons and the years and governs all things in the visible world and is the cause, in a certain way, of all that he and his companions saw." |
The Myth of the cave on the farm
Therefore, when we immerse ourselves in the reality of a company, as well as in the "myth of the cave", we have various types of public:
- Personnel who need an enrichment of the overall vision and managerial skills;
- Internal or external staff with skills and work methods not known in the company;
- Personnel involved in business transformation processes that need to learn new managerial methodologies through training or through work on projects.
In the workplace, I have personally noticed that it is difficult to lead to the adoption of interlocutory managerial models who do not appreciate the value of the methodologies themselves. Which brings us back to a conclusive reference to the myth of the cave: even the sun that "produces the seasons, the years, and governs all things in the visible world" can be very annoying.