OVERT OR COVERT CAUSES

Business changes can be small and barely discernable. Both visible and invisible changes can cause emotional response. Close attention is sometimes necessary to see that a change is even in the works. The big, overt, obvious changes are easy to see and manage. Micro changes can be missed. What is hidden from sight, or just below the surface, eventually erupts if it is important. When it is external it can be addressed, confronted, assessed, evaluated, changed, rearranged, and measured. Those interested only in clearly visible behaviors may miss what is just below the surface. Managers need to be aware that what is below the surface has an important, and in fact critical, effect on human response. The hows , whys and wherefores are less important than the idea that what you see is never the total of what you are getting.

A weather forecaster predicts weather based on a combination of statistical relevant data, empirical research, and observable facts and signs. An expert does not discount his or her hunches. Although the well-placed hunch is not traditionally empirical, it can set the stage for increased observation acuity. Today's managers need more than basic, tried and true, standard, one- size -fits-all, traditional ways of paying attention. Today's employee will look to management for leadership based on the "now" not on "how we've always done it." Your advocacy of a new set of skills, including your expert hunches, may save yourself, your employees , and your company significant resources. If there were no covert issues to be concerned about, there would absolutely nothing to be worried about ” because as soon as you saw something, you could manage it. But that is not what happens at life or at the work site.

What if the crew of the Titanic had known that the overt tip of that now famous iceberg was only the smallest unit, a micro-sign of a deeply dangerous, potentially morbid ( deadly ) overt process? It was not the overt part of the iceberg that caused the catastrophic results. It was the covert, or hidden portion that did the extensive damage. The emotional losses from the Titanic accident continue to be emotionally haunting . Decades later, it is the emotional losses and not the fiscal losses that are discussed.

All human beings have secret, hidden, below-the-surface dimensions as well as outer, visible, and clear demonstrations . A healthy , covert nature lends itself to stability under duress. A distorted , dysfunctional , pathological or impaired covert nature lends itself to instability and potential risks associated with such vulnerability. Although it is not possible to see the hidden it is very possible to see the smallest units, the micro-signs, the tips of the icebergs in people, and then to make some small hunches or theories about risk. Mental Health professionals do not read minds; they watch for small iceberg tips. Not every iceberg tip is deadly. Not every sign of emotions is negative. Managers do not want to become alarmists or paranoid , and then again, which icebergs are important to keep your company afloat?

Case Example

The Titanic, the unsinkable ship, sinks.

Learning Byte

Dear Dr. Hawkins Mitchell, As I was writing my book on the Titanic it occurred to me that some of the passengers were quite famous and wealthy citizens whose personal fortunes, assets and losses associated with their deaths must have amassed great losses through multiply textured fingers of systems. The victims included captains of industry, businessmen, railroad men, bankers, merchants , publishers, Broadway producers , a presidential aide, etc. The loss of such key personnel undoubtedly threw many major companies into brief turmoil before a new 'command structure' could be laid out. And although it isn't necessary to have a "number," I can state correctly that a number of passengers aboard, when their lives were lost, affected multiple systems, agencies, corporations, etc. with an obvious "trickle" down of losses, that (with the patience of Job) could be tracked? I suppose you could then obtain microfilms of a 1912 New York newspaper or two and look at the stock pages to see how (or if) the deaths of these men influenced the stock prices of their respective companies. By the way, all of the men I listed were First Class passengers. I imagine it would be like today if Donald Trump, or Bill Gates, or Oprah Winfrey perished, all the people, places, industries who they had connections with, would feel some sort of ripple. All my best, George Behe

DO THIS: Remember that what you see may be what you get, but what you don't see may be what you get also.

DON'T: Be surprised when something hidden, or covert, pops up in the form of an emotional spin.