---
title: The Power of Knowing Together (5) — When We Know Together, We Move Together
url: https://oosioo.com/en/p/%ED%95%A8%EA%BB%98-%EC%95%84%EB%8A%94-%ED%9E%98-5-%ED%95%A8%EA%BB%98-%EC%95%8C%EB%A9%B4-%ED%95%A8%EA%BB%98-%EC%9B%80%EC%A7%81%EC%9D%B8%EB%8B%A4
date: 2026-10-19T10:32:26+00:00
author: SYSOP
summary: Share information and people start looking in the same direction on their own. They act without being told, and the team keeps running even when you're not there. That's real leadership.
---
# The Power of Knowing Together (5) — When We Know Together, We Move Together

When you share information, something remarkable happens. People start looking in the same direction on their own.

## The Team That Kept Running Without Me

The need to spell out every goal shrinks. Someone who understands the situation arrives at "I need to do this" on their own. The need to watch and manage shrinks too. People who know why they're doing something don't need to be told.

Here's something that actually happened. A client sent in an urgent request, and I was in a meeting, unable to respond right away. But a team member checked the request first, made their own judgment call, and started handling it. By the time the meeting ended, it was already 80% resolved. When I asked, "How did you move so fast?" the answer was simple: "I knew the client's situation. And why this was urgent." That was only possible because the information had been shared. If they hadn't known, they would have asked me, waited for an answer, and only then acted. It would have taken at least half a day longer.

![A bar showing that while the team leader was in a meeting, a team member who had shared information resolved 80% of the issue on their own](/uploads/995fe79dc585e1c0.webp =720)

Researchers call this a "shared mental model" among teams. The more team members share the same picture of their tasks and goals, the better they work together and the higher their performance. Seeing the same information means looking in the same direction.

Some companies have built this principle directly into their organizational structure. One materials company, known for Gore-Tex, chose a flat structure where information flows in every direction, instead of an org chart where orders flow top-down. Instead of taking instructions based on title, anyone can go directly to whoever they need and talk to them, and decisions follow whoever knows, not whoever holds the position. Interestingly, companies like this have a weaker sense of "my information." Information doesn't belong to whoever holds onto it — its value grows as it flows.

Of course, not every company can erase its org chart. But the direction is the same. The more freely information flows along with people, the more an organization moves on its own, without waiting for one person's sign-off. Letting information flow looks like giving up control, but it's actually a way of giving the organization more hands and eyes.

## The Cost of Hidden Information, the Value of Shared Information

The opposite is always costly. One automobile company knew about an engine defect, played it down, and failed to properly disclose it to regulators. But one employee inside the company shared that information externally. In the end, millions of vehicles were recalled, and the safety of countless people was set right. The information the organization tried to bury, once one person brought it out into the open, removed just as much risk. The cost of hiding information and the value of sharing it sit side by side within a single case.

![A contrast showing how covering up a defect leaves the risk in place, while one person sharing it externally led to a recall of millions of vehicles and removed the risk](/uploads/eeda40f397ed6160.webp =720)

## Starting Today

There is nothing anyone can do alone. The word "company" already says as much. It's a place where people gather to work. If people are gathered but working separately, that's not a company — it's just a group of individual operators sharing the same building. To work together, we have to know together. Share what you know, look in the same direction, and set shared goals. Do that, and the nightmare of group projects won't repeat itself.

If there's information on your team right now that only you know, why not bring one piece of it out into the open today? At first, you might feel uneasy — "Is it okay to let everyone know this?" But the moment you bring it out, the team starts to change. Even in an age when machines handle so much of the work, making sure the team keeps running without you is still something only a person can do. Isn't that what real leadership is?