Open communication is essential for new learning. Successful Hudson Valley organizations understand that knowledge is useless unless it is widely available to everyone. That can mean intensive, often prolonged, heated discussion.
Both GE and Emerson Electric use a combative style, but the battle is between ideas, not people. Pepsi-Cola and Serengeti Eyewear employ a more supportive style, but the support is for the person ”¦ the ideas are always fair game.
How can you create an atmosphere of challenge and dissent without allowing it to drift into hostility and fear? Ernst & Young compensates consultants for their contributions to new learning. British Petroleum has a process called Peer Assists, which brings diverse groups together to solve problems. The result is that members of the organization are training and learning from each other.
Leaders must respond positively by offering either encouragement or constructive criticism and realize that individual learning is just as necessary for success as group learning. For new ideas to find a home, old ideas must be displaced. Renewal requires constantly seeking out competing concepts and embracing unfamiliar ideas.
All Hudson Valley organizations must convey that learning is important to survival. To do this, they must:
- Place real value on personal development.
- View errors as opportunities.
- Reward effort not just results.
Retired chairman and CEO of The Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG), Craig Weatherup, observed, “We believed that for change to occur, people had to learn three things: develop a conceptual understanding of the rationale and proposed direction of change, internalize and commit emotionally to the new vision, and acquire new skills to ensure that the vision would be realized. Get their minds around it, their hearts behind it, and hands on it.”
Although Motorola is enjoying a $33 return for every dollar invested in training, before senior management showed its active support, the same program was producing a negative result. Learning in the organization should provide everyone an overview of the “big picture” and their role in it.
In “Innovation X,” author Adam Richardson said, “All the participants should be familiar with the research from every vector, and they should participate in analysis of vectors that are outside their specialty. This provides as many fresh perspectives as possible. Do not allow each person to just investigate his or her specialty.”
Proper challenge and dissent must be learned and led. Skillful questions can gently guide a discussion and build bridges among participants while linking ideas. “Aren”™t Jim and Jayne really saying the same thing?” If you are the leader, don”™t interrupt, jump to conclusions, or project your own thinking. Avoid being critical; don”™t lecture and open yourself to change.
After the Bay of Pigs invasion failed, President Kennedy changed the ground rules by suspending protocol to foster debate. All assumptions were to be challenged. He asked each participant to be a “skeptical generalist,” someone who viewed the situation from a broad perspective rather than the narrow focus of a single agency. Kennedy had people retraining themselves.
Finally, solicit critical feedback. Harvey Golub, when CEO of American Express said, “When you make a decision, you explain how you made it.” Superior insights may lie elsewhere. Encourage everyone to make positive contributions through challenge and dissent, share what they have learned and outlaw hostility.
Questions for discussion:
What can we do to eliminate fear of adverse repercussions or negative outcomes as a result of our people challenging ideas and showing dissent? What rewards might we offer?
How can we encourage our outside suppliers, consultants and strategic partners to openly challenge us with dissenting ideas?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, www.TheDreamSpeaker.com or call 800-239-0058.
