Why nobody tells you the truth now

The higher you go, the better the news gets. That is not because things improved — it is because the cost of telling you otherwise went up.

Overview

Nobody is lying to you. They are rounding. Each layer rounds in the direction that costs them least, and by the fourth layer the rounding is the message.

Ask for the thing, not the summary

Ask to see the raw complaint, the actual churn list, the real rota. Summaries are opinions with a table around them.

Make one person’s job to disagree

Name them, tell the room you have done it, and thank them out loud the first time it is uncomfortable. Otherwise the role quietly reverts to agreement.

Notice when you last changed your mind

If you cannot remember the last time a meeting changed your view, the meetings have stopped being for information. That is a diary problem, not a people problem.