I once sat around a leadership table in an organisation where the only people who were talking were senior leaders. They asked for input and not one member of the middle leadership team spoke up. Not even when what they said was wrong – theoretically and practically. Ironically, that organisation only promoted internally and fast forward five years later, the business started to fail and they were also threatened to have their funding removed. I left that organisation as I was the lone voice who spoke up and suggested alternatives. I’d never felt so suffocated and hardly ever learnt anything. Other organisations I had worked for previously appreciated my opinions and views – we were winning teams who challenged each other appropriately and with respect!

Kim Scott, a business woman, often speaks about the ability to spur productive debate – something which innovative organisations encourage.

“I once interned at McKinsey for a summer, and what impressed me most about the company was its ability to spur productive debate. How did they do it? McKinsey had very consciously created an “obligation to dissent.” If everyone around the table agreed, that was a red flag.

Somebody had to take up the dissenting voice. McKinsey alums often brought this with them into the companies they later worked for. One ex-McKinsey executive at Apple struggled to foster a culture of debate on a team he inherited in Japan.

He had a bunch of gavels made up with “duty to dissent” written in Japanese on them. If there wasn’t a robust enough argument in a meeting, he’d slide the gavel across the table to someone, as a sign to take up the opposite point of view. This simple prop was surprisingly effective” – Kim Scott.

Here’s the thing. When you’re a leader, people are scared of their employment status and some just don’t care enough. In the meantime, your business is not moving forward and your consumers are not deriving the best value from you. Dissenters can offer new ideas and force others to challenge assumptions and come up with better ideas.

In today’s interconnected business environment, companies won’t be able to solve problems effectively without encouraging “contributory dissent”—a healthy approach to gathering diverse perspectives that should be taught to team members, modeled by leaders, and supported by culture.

McKinsey and Company

We’re living in unprecedented times where the world has got more complex – social unrest, wars, mass movements and huge amounts of economic inequality. This will require more complex problem-solving and organisations will need to move forward with innovative solutions. Decision-makers can no longer work alone. They must bring others along with them to ensure diverse voices are heard.

It’s scary having someone challenge you and say they disagree. Of course it is! However, you have to model what healthy challenge looks like as a leader and really embrace that sometimes, in leadership, you will be wrong and someone on your team might have more expertise than you.

McKinsey has research and experience in encouraging and engaging in healthy debate.

These include modeling “open” behaviours, embedding psychological safety and robust debate into decision-making processes, and equipping employees with the communication skills that will allow them to contribute dissenting opinions effectively.

McKinsey and Company

How can you create a culture where appropriate challenge takes place? McKinsey says,

1. Inspire, don’t direct
2. Explicitly demand dissent
3. Actively engage with naysers

With this, an understanding of cultural differences are also required. Being able to understand people from all walks of life is important.

Contributory dissent can help strengthen employee engagement, unlock hidden insights, and help organisations solve tough challenges. But putting it into practice takes courage and humility, and it won’t just happen by accident. Leaders need to be intentional about welcoming challenges to their plans and opinions, even when it’s uncomfortable to do so. They need to establish cultures and structures where respectful debate can occur and where individuals and teams feel free to bring innovative—and often better—alternative solutions to the table – McKinsey and Company.

“Yes” Man/Woman with their ‘Blue Sky Thinking’