10 Symptoms of Enterprise Dissonance

Enterprise Dissonance, whether cognitive or blind indicates disconnects in harmony and awareness of policies, strategy, expectations resulting in business unhappiness.
Cognitive Dissonance - Wikipedia: Social psychologists refer to cognitive dissonance as the presence of incongruity relations among cognition (thought and understanding) frequently results in excessive mental stress and discomfort.

Enterprise dissonance is when we knowingly, or unconsciously, understand how and why things are getting done, with a feeling ‘something is not right,’ yet we continue doing things the same old way. This internal conflict sets you up for cognitive dissonance. “We know policies and processes are off-beam, but we can’t change course now, it will cost too much, or we won’t look good.” Cognition happens when you understand that you have been duped and feel like it is too late to change the game because the risks for conflict resolution feel irreversible. So we keep quiet and make sure others don't speak of their dissonant concerns about being forced to confront ‘internal’ conflicts. Acceptance of this type is a familiar occurrence in the workplace resulting in unspoken policies of ‘hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.’
Enterprise Dissonance Symptoms:

1. Time and Schedule Pressure - You are in too deep and feel alternatives are in the distance and your plate is full to overload.
2. Exhausted Budget – We’ve already spent or committed our budget and cash-flows are constrained by sales (demands) and purchasing (supply) cycles.
3. Unasked Questions – Fear of letting the cat out of the bag are preventing open dialog and permission to speak is reserved only for those visible problems at hand.
4. Unspoken Disputes – Workplace harmony, fear and job worries combined with concerns over company success is kept off the discussion panel. Management dialog is shallow and disputes and arguments over processes and policies get shelved.
5. Planning Inaction – Decision and follow through are being hindered as sales forecasts and production planning are held in limbo because of distrust in business systems and lack of systems and process integration.
6. Thinking ‘inside’ the box – Protectionism is keeping topics to ‘comfort zones only’ as talking and thinking outside the box brings reprisal causing creativity and innovation to get trumped.
7. Entrenched Policies – “If we don’t go there, we don’t have to face it.” The placate zone mentality keeps alternatives off the agenda while policies and decisions which could be key to success are stifled.
8. Office Politics – Constrained philosophies can help or hinder; creating a ‘we versus they’ thinking; separating employees into groups, enabling morale to stagnate or degrade.
9. Leadership Conflicts - Managers ‘quietly’ disagree and business decisions slow down when the teams feel the discomfort subconsciously but are prevented from having open dialog.
10. Safety Risks - Clarity and certainty are not in attendance in board room discussions and management meetings causing uncertainty, leading employees seeking elsewhere to provide individual basic needs of certainty, security and value.

When we have what we need to make decisions and be a team of in-sync players, we have the energy and power to take the whole of the organization under firm control getting those communications monsters out in the open for a cleanup.
Summary:
In the perfect enterprise world all systems and relationships would be seamlessly operating, handing off information and decision support to all the key team players. When systems are top of the line performers, your line of business management gets the scoop without hiding behind walls of unknown compromise. When systems like accounting, manufacturing and distribution are contributing to sales and marketing decisions your business managers have a precision tool-chest they gain clarity and certainty helping them with confidence and trust.
Which, then, are the systems of pain-relief for these business constraints?

• Aligning core values of individuals is a critical measure of enterprise happiness.
• System integration in your technology stack.
• Communications systems for customers, suppliers, employees, managers and supporting departments.
• Certainty with financial control and reporting.
• Organizational values for teaching and learning attitudes.

Enterprise clarity supports purposeful, sustaining actions. When your business modeling produces outcomes which enable continued growth and future-proofing your success, you can pursue beyond your stated goals.
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