Last week, I started to discuss some of the leadership principles Andy Grove speaks to in his classic business book, Only the Paranoid Survive. Last week I wrote about the idea of seeking opinions from all levels of an organization. This week I'll continue by focusing on the theme of encouraging vigorous debate.
One of the most dangerous types of decisions is the one that is made when people around the table aren't saying what they really think. Andy Grove highlights this by talking about how Intel demanded vigorous debate throughout all decision making meetings. In comparison, I've seen many board or committee meetings that are consensus focused and create momentum around a decision before real debate occurs. People sometimes think they are debating an issue simply because someone decided to briefly and often meekly play "Devil's Advocate" and say a few things about what could go wrong. But, did you really vigorously question the underlying assumptions behind your ideas. Did you really demand everyone think through both sides of the equation? Grove says that we should demand vigorous debate at all costs. The related subject of getting people to share their opinions is a prerequisite to getting team members to truly debate a subject. It is important for leaders to show that they want to discuss an idea. When a "key person" in a room throws an idea on the table, it shouldn't end discussion around other ideas.
This is tough. In my own experience, the leaders of a group have to constantly reinforce that they expect the team to come up with competing ideas and be open about knocking things down that don't make sense, regardless of who put the idea out there to begin with. I am constantly looking for new ways to achieve the type of success that Grove talks about in this area. In my experience, the only way to make this type of thing happen is to ensure there is an environment that strongly encourages and rewards these activities.
Next week: Don't hold back decisions due to a lack of information