Conventional management wisdom
“Now Pay attention”, this is important …. all right it most probably isn’t, I have always just wanted to say that phrase.
Conventional Management wisdom suggests that you should work with and seek out those people who disagree with you. They will challenge you and help you grow, cultivating innovative ideas and taking you to the next level.
I disagree with this Conventional Management Wisdom.
By all means go and study this principle, however remember this is a principle and not a rule. You do not have to follow this idea blindly. Here is why …. and here is why in my view on the concept is most probably correct 😉.
You are intentionally going to go out and find people to disagree with you? In my experience that can be quite easy to find without too much effort 😉. From a Financial point of view, you are investing in people that you don’t agree with? From a work point of view, if you are spending up to 50% of your time at work, you are purposely looking for disagreements? This does not come across as a healthy or pleasant working environment or mindset for which you are aiming.
More importantly let us work through this idea from a logical point of view, using what could be considered a high level of disagreement, of 80%.
The implication being that either you are wrong 80% of the time or they are. That means you have a fundamental problem either way. If they are wrong 80% of the time, how can you respect their opinion or have a decent chance of guessing when they are correct. If you are wrong 80% of the time, well then that is an even bigger problem.
How are you able to respect someone’s decision if they are incorrect most of the time, add to this that you are potentially paying someone that is making mistakes in their work 80% of the time. Why are you aiming to invert the 80 20 principle, perhaps you are the one that is incorrect most of the time?
No, you are better off surrounding yourself with those people that agree with you 80% of the time, this is even better if you are correct, more often than not. On the occasion that they disagree with you, that 20% of the time, then you need them to be the kind of individual that will raise their disagreement in a constructive and if needed, in a firm manner. You are far more likely to respect their opinion, given that you are both right 80% of the time 😊. Even better, you have not had to fight with them 80% of the time.
Now consider the most likely end result, both of you are right at least 80% of the time, assuming a 50 50 split on the 10% difference of opinion, your enterprise now has 90% (or higher) chance of making the correct decision. If you had gone with the 80% disagreement individual, well that is just a lottery, anything is possible and someone will be making poor decisions.
Now you are saying, well you cannot have a company of “Yes People” and you are 100% correct, as noted above, you need individuals who are prepared to stand their ground and defend their point of view on the 20% of occasions that they do not agree with you. “Yes people” are more dangerous as they will support you in making a fundamental error at some point, at least the person who always disagrees, might make you one question your sanity and force some form of doubt to make you reassess your decision or path of action.
To get a diversity of views into your business (just in case you thought I was suggesting that you only hire like-minded individuals, most definitely not, just the opposite …. the paragraphs above show that you should not work with people who are incorrect the majority of the time, collaboration is obviously not on the table with such an inherent level of disagreement), there is another way, one does not have to seek out disagreement. No, what you need is a Diverse team, both from a gender and generational point of view. This will bring in wide range of views, which will enable you to see the issue from a different perspective or point of view, this will challenge your way of thinking and help you grow. As you are working with those that agree with you most of the time, once again you will be more likely to respect their opinion and have an exponentially higher chance of making the right decision.
First check if you are normally correct and then by all means please feel free to disagree.
Now if someone could please tell me what it means if I normally disagree with myself …. and I am normally correct 😉.
#thecrazyaccountant #root4plant
