Talk it through with Aurelius
When bad news doesn't travel up in time
By the time leadership hears about a problem, it's already a crisis. Bad news travels up slowly or not at all — people soften it, delay it, hope it resolves before anyone notices. The org keeps getting blindsided by things plenty of people saw coming.
◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
A team-safety problem, worked together (heavily With-others). Half the inner/cultural work of safety (guidance), half the craft of incentives (knowledge).
How the two dials adapt to you →What’s really going on
When bad news doesn't travel up, it's never a communication-tools problem — it's a safety problem. People hide bad news because, somewhere, messengers got shot. The fix isn't a better status report; it's making it safe, even rewarded, to raise the alarm early. We work the team's real dynamics: why bad news gets buried here, and how to build the safety that lets it surface while it's still small.
🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
KnowledgeWhy bad news gets buried
KnowledgeSafety is built, not declared
KnowledgeRewarding the early warning
A moveName the last bad news that reached you late — and what made people hesitate to raise it.
A movePublicly thank the next person who brings you a problem early, however uncomfortable.
PractiseThe pre-mortem · a Pod of 6 · 45 min
What changes unlock by starting
- Bad news reaches you while it's still small.
- People raise problems early instead of hiding them.
- The messenger gets thanked, not shot.
- You stop getting blindsided by things others saw coming.
One object, two jobs: a public answer to a real problem, and — the moment you start the chat — Aurelius’s live plan for your version of it.