This week we discussed the second part of Chapter 4 (driving results collaboratively — telling people what to do doesn’t work). Specifically we discussed the third, fourth, and fifth steps of the cycle. (The complete cycle is listen, clarify, debate, decide, persuade, execute, learn.)
Overall, Dennis is starting to see the cycle (listen, clarify, debate, … execute, learn) in his day-to-day work.
Debate — the rock tumbler
- Technique 1: Keep the conversation focused on ideas not egos
- “If a person has been arguing for A, ask them to start arguing for B.”
- Technique 2: Create an obligation to dissent
- “Somebody had to take up the dissenting voice.” Geoff said he’s never seen this done. Most debate he’s seen has one or two detractors, but they usually get overridden and the results turn out fine. Most of the decisions he sees made have consensus because they’re logically the best choice.
- Jameson often plays this role to make sure his group is not missing something obvious.
- Technique 3: Pause for emotion/exhaustion
- Jameson likes this idea. How do you know when you’ve reached that point in the conversation? Also, can anyone call this out?
- Houston said he’s used the idea of calling “pause,” and anyone in the discussion can do this. It’s ideal to have the facilitator not be a stakeholder in the conversation (i.e., be invested in the outcome).
- Dennis agreed that it’s the responsibility of the person who thinks they need to “pump the breaks” to call that out.
- Jameson said this can be difficult in a 100% remote setting where it’s harder to read the room.
- Technique 4: Use humor and have fun
- “I have found that people on a team I lead key off my mood to an almost alarming extent…” Geoff said this is another reason titles matter.
- “Finally, it’s important to be aware that not everyone enjoys debate.” This is especially true for Geoff, as an ennea Type 9.
- Houston observed that over time, it’s helpful to set up expectations before going into a meeting.
- Technique 5: Be clear when the debate will end
- “One way to avoid this tension is to separate debate meetings and decision meetings.”
- Houston didn’t think having a big debate meeting sounds all that enjoyable. Jameson shared a story from a previous employer where there was a project that impacted hundreds of employees, so having this kind of meeting was crucial.
- Technique 6: Don’t grab a decision just because the debate has gotten painful
- We shared a conversation about something that happened recently at work where it wasn’t clear whether what we’re doing actually brings value to the company. One person had already come to a conclusion and was aimed on getting everyone to agree when most people did not agree. It’s like we missed the “Clarify” step and moved on to “Persuade” and “Execute.”
- If you don’t have a good way to push the “pause” button, this is what happens; someone decides to move forward or not.
- Houston said having a “decide by” date is helpful for keeping you from procrastinating and kicking the can down the road. Jameson said this can also be intimidating because you may not have all the information to make a solid decision (i.e., know the difference between “we need more discussion” and “we’ve talked for two weeks”). Geoff said you need to look at whether you’re hitting the same walls or different walls.
Decide — push decisions into the facts, or pull the facts into the decisions, but keep ego out
- Technique 1: You’re not the decider (usually)
- “That is why kick-ass bosses often do not decide themselves, but rather create a clear decision-making process that empowers people closest to the facts to make as many decisions as possible.”
- Technique 2: The decider should get facts, not recommendations
- Geoff generally agreed; however, if you’re doing something novel, you many only have instincts instead of hard data.
- Technique 3: Go spelunking
- Jameson said there needs to be a threshold of how deep you go into something. How much of the technical understanding do you need to have? Dennis said if you depend on one person for the answer to everything, you create (an unsustainable) hero.
- There’s a balance between knowing all the technical details and having no understanding about it.
Persuade — emotion, credibility, logic
- “[Authoritarian bosses] fail to establish their credibility because they expect people to do what they say simply because they’re the boss.” Geoff said the CEO, who came from the military, of his last company was like this.
- Jameson said this section resonated with him: Dictating people what to do is not persuading. It’s important to have people persuaded (i.e., have buy-in), because people will be more productive. Top-down leadership needs to explain the “why,” otherwise people will be less effective.
- There’s a fine line between manipulation and persuasion, just as there’s a fine line between absentee management and micromanagement.
- Technique 1: Emotion (the listener’s, not the speaker’s)
- Technique 2: Credibility (demonstrate expertise and humility)
- Geoff had to look up “Shumpeterian change”. From Austrian economist Joseph Shumpeter — creative destruction to deliberately dismantle something to make room for something else.
- “Be humble and invoke a ‘we’ not ‘I’ whenever possible.
- Technique 3: Logic (show your work)