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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 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
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
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
I remember my first encounter with an expert. I was the night manager at the Timme Plaza Restaurant in Wilmington, North Carolina, when the event occurred.
Story by Jim McGriff, Jr. on April 24, 2015
In the Jaycee organization there is a simple definition of a leader; a leader has followers. I learned there are several types of followers; voluntary, hired, and assigned.
Story by Jim McGriff, Jr. on February 23, 2014
I can summarize your slow growth easily. There are two types of people you and HR would never hire. You adore Steve Jobs and Einstein. Yet, let’s be honest shall we. You use Apple products.
Story by Jim Woods on October 28, 2013
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

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