253: Molly Tschang: "When Crickets Win: Why 'No One Speaks Up' Kills Execution"
Erik and Molly dive into the real skill behind “speaking up” and why organizations fail: they don’t have an accurate shared reality—essential to actually make the best decisions, execute, and deliver great outcomes. Molly shares a simple, flexible framework that all professionals can apply: “Me–You–We” and explains how leaders and teams can create mutual understanding, hear tough truths, and turn communication into trust and faster execution.
👤 About the Guest
Molly Tschang is a founder of Abella Ventures and Say It Skillfully. With 80+ M&A experiences at Cisco and US Filter, she helps senior teams “Win as One.” Through Say It Skillfully, she teaches people at every level how to communicate with clarity, compassion, and confidence. She co-authored Say It Skillfully: Speak Up, Make Your Words Matter, Win Together and is a TEDx speaker and podcast host.
🧭 Conversation Highlights
- Molly’s origin: shyness, then noticing how silence creates disconnect and friction across organizations.
- “Accurate shared reality” as the foundation for decisions, speed, and execution, built by skillful speech and mutual hearing.
- Skillful means both content and delivery, with positive intention, curiosity, and a focus on hard facts.
- Leaders choose how to create receptivity: culture starts at the top, and communication capability must be built, not assumed.
💡 Key Takeaways
- Accurate shared reality is not about tools; it requires human participation and skillful communication.
- The Me–You–We framework to skillfully use your voice involves 1) dropping ego/emotion in your way and setting your intention, 2) walking in the other’s shoes with empathy and connecting as human beings, and 3) best serving the whole, be that a couple, team, or entire organization.
- Trust grows when leaders make it part of everyone’s job to surface information, including the “unpopular”, as in the tough feedback or bad news.
- AI can accelerate work, but organizations still need to teach communication so change is understood and adopted.
❓ Questions That Mattered
- What does “skillful” actually mean when your message could be heard differently than you intend?
- How do teams stop being stuck in opinions and instead bubble up the hard facts that drive decisions?
- When leaders say they want input, but decisions are already made, how should the system be communicated transparently?
- How should organizations talk to employees about AI and prevent confusion from becoming a new shared disconnect?
🗣️ Notable Quotes
- “An accurate shared reality is about being on the same page about the hard facts, AND the human experience.”
- “You don’t need to run around and try to unearth what everyone’s thinking, if your people to realize it’s their job to be speaking up.”
- “People complain about self-interest, and the reason they get away with it is because no one says anything.”
- “When you say it skillfully, the people around you rise—and so do you.”
🔗 Links & Resources
