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Encourage the dissenters

“The pro-change constituency must always be more powerful than the no-change constituency.”

There is a tendency in every organization to discount disputatious or divergent points of view. Those with an interest in defening the status quo often regard dissent as subverssive. Yet history shows it was often the malcontents and the contrarians who had the most prescient view of tomorrow’s threats and opportunities. So rather than marginalize the outliers, organizations must ensure that their voices are heard. Internal debates about strategy and policy must be vigorous, open and uncensored, and every management processes must encourage those with discomforting views to speak up.

18 Stories
36 Hacks
5 Barriers

Encourage the dissenters

“The pro-change constituency must always be more powerful than the no-change constituency.”

There is a tendency in every organization to discount disputatious or divergent points of view. Those with an interest in defening the status quo often regard dissent as subverssive. Yet history shows it was often the malcontents and the contrarians who had the most prescient view of tomorrow’s threats and opportunities. So rather than marginalize the outliers, organizations must ensure that their voices are heard. Internal debates about strategy and policy must be vigorous, open and uncensored, and every management processes must encourage those with discomforting views to speak up.

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Ever get an innovation project rolling along well and then bump into a hidden corporate policy or procedure that stops the project dead in its tracks?
Hack by Mary Kuhr Anderson on August 14, 2017
This article has been written as one of the requirements to obtain the Innovation Mentor Certification at CIMp.
Story by David Graham IV on August 14, 2017
I was talking to a close friend at my company, he said, “How could you stay in management so long? I never wanted to be a manager. I never wanted to tote the corporate water or be a corporate hammer.”
Story by Jim McGriff, Jr. on May 21, 2017
Given the total lack of evidence that developing leaders actually results in better organizational performance, maybe it is time to convert what we know about leadership.
Many citizens in western democracies are now distrusting politicians and political institutions, and also feel increasingly powerless about the local and national political scenes.
Hack by Georges Romme on February 18, 2017
Once upon a time there was a successful leader. Each day on his way from the metro to the office, he passed under a bridge where homeless people were seeking shelter from the rain and the cold.
Story by Bernhard Sterchi on September 13, 2016
Inspired by what Carsten Schloter told me once. Later I found out it quite matches Christopher Avery's responsibility process Once upon a time there was a dwarf.
Story by Bernhard Sterchi on May 1, 2016
Early in the innovation process, when the sky should be the limit, avoid the pitfalls of being too practical, too quick to jump to solutions, and too eager to work towards the familiar.This hack was w
Hack by Brian Janke on March 4, 2016
For a large corporate company, to become an innovative company, the involvement of the employees is an important key to success. Old school corporate communication is not sufficient anymore.
Hack by Ad van Dongen on February 27, 2016
This is a critical election in 2016. It will determine the future financial security of our country. We as citizens need many question answered by the politicians before we vote for them.
Story by Jim McGriff, Jr. on October 20, 2015

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