Sense of Discomfort | Developing Intuition Through Small Anomalies in the Field

Sense of discomfort

Last time, I wrote about context.

Even with the same strategy, the right answer changes depending on the company.
Read the previous article here

Price increases, strengthening recruitment, KPI management, delegation of authority, and narrowing down targets—all these strategies look correct if you only look at the actions themselves.

But whether they will work in this company right now is a different story.

The company's phase.
Relationships with customers.
Organizational strength.
The people who can execute.
What to discard.

If you implement strategies without looking at those factors, the company will stall even though it looks like you are doing the right thing.

So, where does that context appear?

It is not just in the documents.
It is not just in the numbers at management meetings.
It is not just in neatly prepared reports.

Context appears in the small anomalies on the front lines.

Intuition is honed not by polished words in a conference room, but by a sense of discomfort in the field.

When a company starts to decline, it doesn't become a major problem from the start.
When a company starts to decline, it doesn't make a loud noise from the start.

Sales don't suddenly drop.
Mass resignations don't happen all at once.
Customers don't leave overnight.
Cash flow doesn't suddenly hit a wall.

Before that happens, small anomalies appear.

Chat replies become a little slower.
Fewer people speak up in meetings.
The phrase "I'm fine" is used more often.
Reports become thicker, but contain less information useful for decision-making.
Specific customer names stop being mentioned in sales meetings.
Even though targets are being met, the expressions of the staff become heavy.
Casual conversations after meetings become more honest than the meetings themselves.

Each one of these does not look like a major problem.

Just busy.
Just tired.
Just happened to have fewer comments.
Just a longer document this time.
Just a slightly worse reaction this month.

That is how they are dismissed.

However, when these small anomalies pile up, a company quietly drifts off course.

Whether or not you can pick up on a sense of discomfort before it becomes a problem.
That is where the difference in business sense lies.

Anomalies in the field can appear before they show up in the numbers.

Numbers are important.

Revenue, gross profit, churn rate, average order value, sales man-hours, hiring numbers, turnover rate, and cash flow.

You cannot ignore numbers when looking at a company.

However, by the time something shows up in the numbers, it may already be too late.

Customer reactions are becoming lukewarm.
Sales are closing deals under unreasonable conditions.
The front lines are exhausted.
Managers are avoiding making decisions.
Meetings are increasing.
The location of responsibility is becoming ambiguous.

These anomalies appear in the field before they are reflected in the numbers.

Revenue has not dropped yet.
Churn has not increased yet.
No one has resigned yet.
Funds have not run out yet.

Therefore, in management meetings, everything looks 'fine'.
But in the field, a sense of discomfort is already emerging.

Salespeople stop talking about customers.
Customer success is overwhelmed by inquiries.
Development is exhausted because they cannot set priorities.
Administrative departments are bogged down with handling exceptions.
Managers remain silent in meetings.
Team members stop making suggestions.

If you only look at the numbers, everything still looks okay.
But when you compare them to the atmosphere in the field, something is wrong.

Whether or not you can pick up on
things that haven't shown up in the numbers yet but are already present in the field
.

That is where your sense is honed.

--

Anomalies appear in changes in language.

A sense of discomfort in the field first appears in the language used.

"Everything is going well."
"It's fine."
"There are no problems."
"I'll take this back for now."
"I will check."
"I will coordinate."
"I will align our understanding."

Of course, there is nothing wrong with these words themselves.

The problem arises when these words increase, but actual actions decrease.

You say "everything is going well," yet the client's response is fading.
You say "it's fine," yet deadlines are not being met.
You say "I will check," yet we are having the same conversation next time.
You say "I will coordinate," yet no one has decided anything.
You talk about "aligning understanding," yet no one takes responsibility.

The words are polished.
But the actions are not following through.

When this happens, the company is starting to stall.

What executives and managers should look at is not the politeness of the words.

What moved after those words were spoken?
Who decided?
Was a deadline set?
Was the person responsible made clear?
What will change by next time?

Look at that.

The more polished the language in the field becomes, the more you should look at the reality.

Perhaps they are just not speaking their true feelings.
Perhaps they have given up, thinking nothing will change even if they object.
Perhaps they are just using vague language to escape because they don't want to take responsibility.

Picking up on changes in language is also picking up on anomalies in the field.

--

Anomalies appear in meetings

One of the places where a sense of discomfort in the field is most likely to appear is in meetings.

Meetings increase.
Participants increase.
Documents increase.
Items to check increase.

But the number of things decided does not increase.
This state is quite dangerous.

At first glance, the company appears to be well-managed.

Stakeholders gather,
points of discussion are confirmed,
progress is shared,
and it looks like the next actions are being discussed.

But in reality, nothing is decided.

It is unclear what the meeting is supposed to decide.
It is unclear who is making the decisions.
It is unclear who will take action after the decision is made.

It is unclear what should be different by the next meeting.
Yet, the meetings continue.

This is because having meetings makes it look like progress is being made.

However,

If meetings are increasing but the company is not moving forward, that is an anomaly.

What is particularly dangerous is not during the meeting, but after it.

No one objects during the meeting.
After it ends, complaints emerge in chats and casual conversations.

People say "I will do it" during the meeting.
But the following week, nothing has progressed.

People say "It has been decided" during the meeting.
But in the field, no one has changed their priorities.

The real intentions are coming out after the meeting, not during it.
If you overlook this state, the company will quietly spin its wheels.

Companies with an increasing number of meetings usually have nothing decided.
This is a sign of a very strong sense of discomfort.

--

Anomalies also appear in documents.

An increase in documents can also be an anomaly.
Of course, documents themselves are not bad.

Documents that organize text, clarify points, and support decision-making are necessary.
However, the thicker the documents become, the less the company may move.

The page count is high.
There are graphs.
KPIs are listed.
Issues are written down.
Measures are also written down.

But in the end, it is unclear what they want to decide.

You don't know what the problem is.
You don't know who is taking action.
You don't know which numbers, if they deviate, should trigger a change in strategy.

Is this document being created for management purposes?

Is it being created for reporting?
Is it being created to avoid responsibility?
Is it being created for decision-making?

You need to look at that.

Even though the number of documents is increasing, decision-making is not getting faster.
Even though reports are increasing, the strategies remain unchanged.
Even though the issues are laid out, priorities are not being set.

This is an anomaly.

Companies with thicker documents sometimes appear to see things clearly when they actually do not.
People with intuition look not at the perfection of a document, but at whether the document is actually moving the company.

Anomalies also appear in silence.

Anomalies in the field appear more in the disappearance of voices than in voices becoming louder.

As long as there is dissatisfaction, there is still a reaction.
As long as there are opposing opinions, there is still interest.
As long as there are questions, people are still thinking.

What is truly dangerous is when nothing comes out at all.

No one opposes.
No one proposes.
No one asks questions.
No one speaks their true feelings.

At first glance, it looks like things are calm.
But in reality, they might just have given up.

Nothing changes even if I say something.
Proposals don't get approved.
Only responsibility increases.
The people who should decide don't decide.
In the end, the field has no choice but to absorb it.

The moment people feel that way, they go silent.
Silence is not always stability.

Executives and managers sometimes find opposing opinions to be a nuisance.
But it is more dangerous when opposing opinions disappear.

When nothing comes out of the field, it doesn't mean things are going well; it may mean you are no longer being counted on.

Whether or not you can pick up on this sense of discomfort.
That is where your intuition for observing an organization shows.

--

Companies that cannot pick up on anomalies end up normalizing them.

What makes a company dangerous is that when abnormalities persist, they become the norm.

Having too many meetings becomes the norm.
Indecision becomes the norm.
Ambiguous responsibility becomes the norm.
Excessive documentation becomes the norm.
A fatigued workforce becomes the norm.
Weak customer response becomes the norm.
Taking on unreasonable orders becomes the norm.

Even though you should have felt a sense of discomfort at first, it becomes part of your daily routine before you know it.
This is the most dangerous thing.

When abnormalities become routine,
no one stops them.
no one questions them.
no one says, "This is strange."

And then, you only notice once the problem has grown too large.

Sales have dropped.
Cancellations have increased.
Employees have resigned.
Funds have dried up.
Strong complaints have come from customers.
The organization has stopped functioning.

Only then do people say, "It was a bit strange for a while."
But at that point, your options are limited.

Intuition is not the ability to notice an abnormality after it has grown large.
It is the ability to pick up on a sense of discomfort before the abnormality becomes the norm.

--

People who pick up on discomfort are not just being nitpicky.

People who pick up on small anomalies in the field are sometimes thought of as being overly meticulous.

Chat responses are slow.
Participation in meetings has decreased.
Documents have become thicker.
Customer names are no longer mentioned.
The phrase "I'm fine" is used more often.

People might wonder why you care about such things.
But if you are in a position to oversee a company, it is better not to take these small changes lightly.

Of course, you don't need to treat everything as a problem.
There is no need to overreact to every single thing.

What is important is to look at the flow, not just the individual points.

If a reply is late just once, they might just be busy.
If someone speaks less in a meeting just once, it might just be a coincidence.
If one document is thick, it might just be this one time.

However, it is a different story if it continues.

Replies become slower, honest opinions disappear from meetings, paperwork increases, decisions are delayed, and the expressions of those on the front lines become heavy.

When multiple anomalies point in the same direction like this, a company has begun to drift off course.

People with business sense are not just obsessed with details.
They connect small changes to see the underlying structure.

--

Standards you can use tomorrow

When looking for a sense of discomfort in the field, it is better not to look for flashy problems.
First, look at the small anomalies.

There are five things you should look at.

The first is changes in language.

Have phrases like "I'm fine" increased?
Have phrases like "I will check" increased?
Have phrases like "I will take this back for now" increased?
Are actual actions following positive words?

The second is changes in meetings.

Have the number of meetings increased?
Have the number of participants increased?
Are there more confirmation items than actual decisions?
Is there a state where nothing progresses after meetings?

The third is changes in documentation.

Even though documents have increased, has decision-making become faster?
Even though reports have increased, have the measures changed?
Even though the points of discussion are organized, have the priorities been decided?

The fourth is changes in silence.

Have dissenting opinions disappeared?
Have questions decreased?
Have proposals stopped coming?
Has the team given up and gone silent?

The fifth point is the gap between the numbers and the atmosphere.

Are the numbers being met, yet the team doesn't seem tired?
Are sales growing, yet customer reactions are becoming lukewarm?
Is hiring progressing, yet the organization isn't getting stronger?

A sense of discomfort is small when viewed in isolation.
However, when multiple anomalies point in the same direction, it becomes a sign that the company's structure is beginning to drift.

Sense is not a special intuition.

It is the ability to not overlook small anomalies in the field, but to connect them and view them as a structure.

Discomfort in the field usually shows up in meetings.

I have written about what happens in companies where meetings have increased in a previous article here.

"Meetings | Companies with increased meetings usually haven't decided anything"

Business sense is not honed by clean words in a conference room.

It is honed when you pick up on small anomalies in the field and transform them into structure.

Next time, I will write about "why".

People who grow do not stop at the facts that occurred.

If this theme resonated with you even a little, I would be happy if you could like or follow.

In future installments, I will continue to break down business sense not as a talent, but as a set of criteria that can be honed through practical work.