A whopping 83% of organizations are searching for qualified talent and coming up empty. Deficits in talent in the key areas of leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, managerial skills, communication, and interpersonal skills are all reported at over 50%. What’s the deal? Arriving at a solution depends on correctly identifying the problem. Yes, there is the Great Resignation, changing technology, and an aging workforce, but…I think that the stats reveal a system that has very little to do with those explanations. The pandemic was just the strong push that toppled an already unstable tower. It uncovered the truth. We had been ascribing to organizational structures and processes that were heavily top down, full of directives, and compliance and training that was about dispensing information, rather than seeking to bring about transformation. We created organizations full of dependent, responsive to direction, members. Our fear of losing control caused us to impose confining limits on our workforce. We didn’t know how to invert the hierarchical triangle and amplify the voice of those at the “bottom.” We’re now trying to remedy the situation by offering e-learning and virtual training opportunities, and we are emphasizing DE&I content. Although there is nothing wrong with these approaches, we need to be careful to recognize that they may be band aids to a deeper issue that is based on an embedded mindset that reveals a lack of trust of employee capability. Trust your employees enough to ask for their input…and then, incorporate it.