Why Leaders Must Be Wary Of SURVEYS

Perhaps because of individual's need to be accepted, liked or popular, many, in positions of leadership, tend to rely heavily on the information, they receive, as a result of polls and surveys. While some, at least on the surface, may believe this makes a degree of sense, in far too many instances, the so - called, data, many not only add little, but may become misleading, dangerous, or self - serving! How questions/ information are worded, gathered, etc; whether there might be something in the wording that might be interpreted differently by others; if the questions asked are the best/ most significant ones; who is submitting the surveys or being polled; the size of the sample, and whether it's statistically valid; or even if the people involved are well - informed enough, to know what to seek; etc, are just some of the reasons to be wary of this process. Let's review, using the mnemonic approach, why to beware of SURVEYS.

1. Skewed; structure; senseless; statistics: Perhaps the single - biggest challenge faced by those using these methods, is avoiding the tendency to skew the data. This may be done by the sampling, the questions themselves, the wording; or many other factors. What is the structure of the process; positive or negative? Do you seek guidance, or merely agreement? What sense does the concept make, especially if/ when those being surveyed, lack the necessities, aptitude, experience or expertise, to even know what is needed? How will the statistic be gathered, and what do they really mean?

2. Useless; urging; urgent: How will you prevent merely collecting and gathering lots of relatively useless information? Have you designed it, to be fair and unbiased, or are the questions, urging others, towards a specific behavior and/ or action? How will you differentiate urgent/ priority issues, from the petty stuff?

3. Reliability; relevance; reach conclusions; raw data: How reliable is your process? Is it relevant, and help you reach conclusions, or simply a format for complaining, and blaming? Will you carefully review and publish both the raw data, as well as your interpretations?

4. Value; values; vision: Consider whether partaking in this process, adds meaningful value, and whether you look, with a keen - eye, on maintaining and enhancing the core values. of your organization. Ideally, the information you gather, should enhance, and help you implement, a vibrant, vital vision!

5. Elicit; effectiveness; empathy: Your survey is only valuable if it assists you, in a positive manner, in gainer a greater degree of understanding and empathy! How will it elicit a positive response and/ or action? How will you measure and consider its effectiveness?

6. Yes/ No (versus other options): How have you created your questions, so the responses are nor merely yes, or no, or true or false, but you will be able to gather a greater degree of information, and a less skewed survey?

7. Stretch; system; symptoms; solutions: Is the stretch from the raw data, to the interpretation, a valid one, or quite a stretch? Is it examining symptoms, alternatives, heritage, mission, and solutions? Or, as is often the case, does it merely provide the equivalent of false facts, because it avoids seeking viable solutions?

How often have you attended a seminar or class, and been asked to fill out an evaluation survey, even though few of the attendees, had any degree of valid expertise, to offer valuable feedback? Whether it's for evaluations, programing, strategic planning, etc, be wary of these SURVEYS!

Richard has owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, Director of Development, consultant, professionally run events, consulted to thousands of leaders, and conducted personal development seminars, for 4 decades. Rich has written three books and thousands of articles. His company, PLAN2LEAD, LLC has an informative website: http://plan2lead.net and LIKE the Facebook page for leadership planning: http://facebook.com/Plan2lead


 By Richard Brody

Article Source: Why Leaders Must Be Wary Of SURVEYS