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How do leaders make sure they are hearing the unvarnished truth? How can they cut through the bureaucracy and access unfiltered information? Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, Ben Cohen describes one technique employed by Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Cohen draws from a new book by Tae Kim (“The Nvidia Way"). Cohen and Kim describe the infamous T5T memos that Huang reads each week.
T5T notes (Top 5 Things) come from employees at all levels of Nvidia. Huang reads them all. They describe issues that they are noticing, concerns they have, or simply exciting and interesting things that they are working on in their areas. He reads them all while sipping a glass of his favorite Scotch on a Sunday evening. Cohen describes Huang's rationale for reading all these emails:
"The documents that make it to a typical CEO tend to get so watered down along the way that they’re liable to leave a puddle on his desk. Huang doesn’t bother with any of them. He doesn’t believe in formal strategic planning or status reports, either. “Status reports are meta-information by the time you get them,” Huang said last year. “They’re barely informative.” He doesn’t want information that has already made its way through layers of management. What he wants is 'information from the edge,' he said last month in a public interview with Laurene Powell Jobs."
In research with Amy Edmondson and Richard Bohmer, we have described how organizations tend to downplay ambiguous risks. Leaders and their teams discount warning signs that are unclear and fraught with incomplete information. As a result, organizations miss opportunities to recover from initial problems and develop solutions. Larger, more serious failures result from the inability to assess ambiguous threats effectively. Huang seems to be purposefully using the T5T memos to identify and amplify these ambiguous risks, and to make sure that the bureaucracy doesn't dampen or paper over important threats.
In Kim's book, Huang explains, “I’m looking to detect the weak signals. It’s easy to pick up the strong signals, but I want to intercept them when they are weak.”
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By reading T5T notes from employees at all levels, Huang is creating a culture of openness where staff feel comfortable sharing both challenges and successes. It shows respect for the front-line perspectives and demonstrates the value he places on diverse input.
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In a world where corporate communications often go through multiple layers before reaching the top, Huang's decision to read direct notes from the edge is a refreshing break from the norm. It encourages transparency and ensures that no valuable insight is lost along the way.
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Huang’s reluctance to rely on formal status reports is a great example of how traditional management practices can be limiting. Status reports often filter out the nuances that are critical for making informed decisions, and Huang’s approach allows for a richer understanding of what’s truly happening in the company.
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Many CEOs become distant from the day-to-day realities of their businesses, but Huang's commitment to reading T5T memos shows a deep personal investment in understanding and solving problems. His hands-on approach builds trust and strengthens his leadership.
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The fact that Huang reads these memos on a Sunday evening while enjoying a glass of Scotch speaks to how he uses his time strategically. He’s prioritizing learning from his team and staying informed, rather than engaging in traditional, more formal meetings or reports. This sets a strong example for leaders who want to truly understand their organizations.
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By opting for real-time, direct feedback from employees, Huang is able to make faster, more informed decisions. This approach likely contributes to Nvidia’s ability to stay agile and innovative, adapting to changes more quickly than competitors.
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