Did you hear about the Wall Street bankers who paid themselves $20 billion in bonuses for their outstanding work in 2008? Of course you did. Even President Obama himself described their behavior as "shameful" and "the height of irresponsibility," and no one disagreed (except maybe former Merrill Lynch CEO, John Thain, who wins the Chutzpah Award for going on television to explain that paying bonuses was necessary to protect "the franchise." Uh, John, would that be the Merrill Lynch franchise you drove into the ground and had to hand over to Bank of America?)

It's easy to be outraged by a bunch of rapacious financiers, and most of us can honestly say we wouldn't expect such special treatment. But before we begin to feel too superior, it's useful to spend a moment thinking about what underlies this self-absorbed behavior derided by President Obama and others.

All of us see the world through the prism of our own background and experiences and we usually adopt the norms of our familial, social, educational, or professional environments. In business, this usually means we quickly come to understand "how it's done around here." Challenging and changing those norms can be difficult and sometimes takes extraordinary courage and perseverance on the part of an organization's leadership.

What business leaders often miss—and Mr. Thain and his clueless Wall Street buddies are just an extreme example—is the ability to look at themselves and their businesses as others see them. It's not enough to understand how your business works—you must also understand how your organization's other stakeholders perceive you. You might think your leadership is enlightened, but what if your employees think you're a jerk? You might feel your product or service is terrific, but what do your customers think?

This is an important—perhaps the most important—function of marketing and communications program. Market research and two-way communications are invaluable tools for understanding the reality of your product or service, that is, the "reality" as understood by those whom you seek to serve and profit from. Ultimately, that can be the only reality that matters.

The Scottish poet Robert Burns captured this idea perfectly in a poem he wrote in 1786 that includes the line: "Oh would some Power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us." The poem is entitled "To a Louse" and Burns wrote it after watching a louse crawl about a fine lady's bonnet.

To a Louse. Someone should send a copy to John Thain.