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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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A shared space to which colleagues are encouraged to post divergent ideas and innovative solutions.
Hack by Silvia Colombo on June 28, 2011
Many great ideas for what needs to be done or fixed at an organization get suggested.But never in any formal forum - the best ideas often come up when out for drinks, or in furtive cubicle conversatio
Barrier by Eric Nehrlich on April 16, 2010
Engaging senior level experience in a constructive way by creating critical friends.
Hack by Mark McDonald on August 30, 2011
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.
The Information Age has accelerated the speed of business. Old management models are crippling effective leadership. Leaders need more data. Social discovery helps bridge the information gap.
Hack by Joshua Eric Schow on July 12, 2013
In its new business groups, Applied Materials has changed the way decisions are made.  Each week in the Solar Business Group, a technology roadmap/strategy meeting is held with all levels of empl
Story by Brendan McComb on September 16, 2010
When participating in meetings, have each of the participants take on a role other than their own - usually as a representative of a part of the organization that is not represented.
Hack by Jason Bernstein on August 28, 2010
New ideas, and feedback on existing ideas would be a lot more vibrant with support for anonymous publishing. No filtering, no censorship, just trust in your people to contribute honestly
Hack by brendan coram on May 12, 2010
Establish an environment to allow ideas to grow within a company.  An incubator gives support for a new idea.  Universities, notably Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, have used this method t
Hack by Brendan McComb on September 18, 2010
I've got a new book forthcoming ( http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=16531 ) that is based on the research that I did for my Ph.D.
Barrier by Aaron Anderson on May 28, 2010

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