Managing Dissent - Like a Gardener with a Rare Flower

Image by ivabalk from Pixabay

There you sit in a meeting, perhaps leading it, calm and content that the group is quickly and thankfully moving towards a resolution. What led to this meeting? A high profile client issue that could jeopardize the entire account at your firm - an account whose loss would deeply cut into the bottom line. Your initial lightening quick instincts led you to form a SWAT team and together address the issue. As the meeting enters its natural end stage with people taking action items and promising status updates you notice a key person off to the side sitting quietly, pensively. You realize this person has not contributed at all during the discussion and a slight chill of nervousness starts to creep up your spine.

You can choose to do one of two things:
Option 1: remain content that the majority seems to be honing in on a good solution and allow the meeting to conclude with people going to execute on the plan, or
Option 2: draw the quiet person (who may have a strong difference of opinion) into the discussion at the risk of discovering the resolution is not going to work effectively thus halting all progress just made.

What to do?

I've seen many mentees and many managers choose option 1. Many of us live in a society that puts great trust in the majority's beliefs and decisions. We choose Presidents, community leaders, contest winners and make a host of other selections by majority vote. That's not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to deciding issues that impact a nation's citizenry. But enlightened leadership in the working world is not all about "majority rules" but rather about "doing the right thing". And you don't need to be a Manager to be faced with this kind of choice.

I was recently watching a TED talk about choosing when to use expert opinion during the problem-solving/crisis-solving process. The speaker, Noreena Hertz, put it best when she told the story of a famous CEO who always chose option 2:

"Google CEO Eric Schmidt is a practical practitioner of this philosophy. In meetings, he looks out for the person in the room—arms crossed, looking a bit bemused—and draws them into the discussion, trying to see if they indeed are the person with a different opinion, so that they have dissent within the room. Managing dissent is about recognizing the value of disagreement, discord and difference.”

~ Noreena Hertz, from “How to Use Experts and When Not to,” TED Talks, Nov. 2010

Mind you encouraging dissent is not equivalent to instigating a rebellion although that is a possible outcome (however unlikely). Creating a space for dissent and constructive disagreement and debate has been proven time and again to produce more efficient, effective and creative solutions to real world business problems. In addition I've already discussed in other pages of this blog how ensuring participation and buy in from everyone (dissension or not) will yield to a more motivated team. And a more motivated team will yield a fervent desire to solve problems on behalf of the team and the company. It's a harder place to get to as there are few people who relish debate but the end result can literally save the company.

I propose that the way to manage dissent is to encourage it when we see it brewing in a setting where its manifestation can be most productive. It should be an appropriate setting where it can be discussed, dealt with and appreciated. If that setting doesn't exist then create it.

In many ways we as mentors/leaders are the gardeners of our mentees' careers and our organization's success. We cultivate goals, ideas and hopefully inspire growth. Dissent is like an unusual flower that we, the gardeners, come upon from time to time while tending his or her garden. Before deciding it's a weed and ripping it out by its roots we need to stop, take a breath and examine what possibly rare and special thing is unfolding before us. And while at first it may seem unwanted and misplaced (especially during times of crisis) if we encourage it to grow it may turn into the most beautiful and valued thing we possess.