There can be many reasons why executives struggle to under the ground reality of the organisation. I believe the main reason is that they pretend to behave like a race car driver. They look straight (narrow focus) and lose the 360-degree view. They never see the big picture when they rush to complete the next main thing. Because they do not engage with the wider stakeholders, so they struggle to understand the ground reality.
To understand the ground reality think of yourself as a ship captain. Talk and engage with the varied stakeholders. Understand their perspectives. Develop your opinion by bouncing your ideas against multiple stakeholders.
Your inner voice may tell you I don’t have time for this. However, understand that you can only take the organisation so far by pretending to behave like a race car driver. It is your responsibility to understand the ground reality and serve the truth!