If your reds are green, you’re managing a secret!

❓  When is a red not a red?

✅  When it’s green!

I’ve worked with so many organisations where their status reporting was, let’s say, less than a fair representation of reality 😁.

In an extreme case, one would never, ever present a red to the CEO.  Maybe a dark orange, but never a red!

So there are all sorts of “fudges” to make things seem better than they really are.

Yet what’s the result?

Imagine if real traffic lights behaved like that?

😕   No–one would know what to do?

💥  Lots of accidents!

🐌  Progress slowed!

I remember Alan Mulally, former CEO of Ford, talking about the culture when he arrived there.  Even when the business was heading for a huge loss, all the reports coming to him showed a green!  Everyone was afraid that a red would mean they’d disappear. 

He knew that how he behaved would set the culture, and worked hard on changing things to make it OK to tell it like it was.  So they were dealing with reality, and could direct help where it was needed to keep things on track.

I always advocate that there should be clear definitions that everyone understands:

🟢  Everything’s on track and OK

🟡  We’re a bit behind or we have a problem, but we can fix it without impacting delivery

🔴  We have a problem that will have a big impact and/or we don’t know how to fix it yet

Some may argue that there should only be red or green.  I see their point but, for me, that’s too crude and good use of the three colours works better.

So, how green are the reds in your organisation?