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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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This entry tells the extraordinary story of how a small group of trainee clinicians, young leaders and improvement facilitators from within the National Health Service (NHS) of England created a call
Story by Helen Bevan on June 14, 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
Every new employee at Red Hat quickly learns about memo-list, one of the most visible elements of the Red Hat culture.
Story by DeLisa Alexander on August 24, 2011
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
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
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

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