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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
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
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
“But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations.
Story by Jeff DeGraff on July 26, 2012

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