Within the walls of modern corporations, asking hard questions, providing negative feedback upwards, and questioning the statements of leaders is extremely dangerous. Those types of statements can lead to an idea being discarded; people attach themselves to their ideas; people with ideas under attack will regard it as a personal attack; and they will lash out at the source of the attack - the messenger.
This isn't news - anyone in a corporate environment knows this. It's also not news to say that this happens in a consultancy; after all, a consulting firm is just as, if not more so, driven by the ability of leaders to convince people (clients and underlings) that their ideas are truly unique and original.
The result is that few messengers are shot, because everyone knows the rules and holds their tongue. As a result, stupid ideas (that everyone in the organization knows are stupid) aren't killed before they do real damage. I'd cite an example, but everyone can think of a time when this happened in their organization.
What is new and interesting is how technology allows those hard questions to be asked within the walls of an organization, while protecting the messenger, and the carefully constructed corporate image.
Do you use Ourbeeswax.com? What's your take on it?
