We’d like to think that no smart, upstanding manager would ever
overlook or turn a blind eye to threats or wrongdoing that ultimately imperil
his or her business. Yet it happens all the time. We fall prey to obstacles
that obscure or drown out important signals that things are amiss. Becoming a
“first-class noticer,” says Max H. Bazerman, a professor at Harvard Business
School, requires conscious effort to fight ambiguity, motivated blindness,
conflicts of interest, the slippery slope, and efforts of others to mislead us.
As a manager, you can develop your noticing skills by acknowledging
responsibility when things go wrong rather than blaming external forces beyond
your control. Bazerman also advises taking an outsider’s view to challenge the
status quo. Given the string of ethical failures of corporations around the
world in recent years--from BP to GM to JPMorgan Chase--it’s clear that leaders
not only need to act more responsibly themselves but also must develop keen
noticing skills in their employees and across their organizations. [ABSTRACT
FROM AUTHOR]