Using Conflict, Dissent to create robust & resilient solutions

When we think through work we primarily focus on the happy path. This only gives us half the picture. When we take time to explore the dark side of work, we can anticipate many of the dangers lurking in wait. There are many ways to explore this dark side. This talk will cover why this is important and a handful of strategies for diving in and coming out the other side stronger.

Transcript

1. Using conflict and dissent to create
   robust, resilient solutions
   Julia Wester
   Co-Founder, 55 Degrees AB
   @everydaykanban
   

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3. “Where all think alike, no one thinks
   very much.”
   Walter Lippmann,
   "The Stakes of Diplomacy”, 1915
   By Pirie MacDonald - Yale University Manuscripts & Archives Digital Images Database [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10533340
   

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4. Hiring for
   cultural fit
   seems to be
   going well!
   

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5. Mode of thinking that happens when the
   desire for harmony overrides a realis6c
   appraisal of the alterna6ves.
   Irving Janis, Psychologist
   GROUP THINK
   

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6. Image credit: Jeff Patton
   

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7. How do we really form
   abstract beliefs?
   

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8. We could benefit from
   some healthy dissent!
   

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9. Dissent
   having/expressing opinions at
   variance with those commonly
   or officially held.
   

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10. “Contrary to popular wisdom and
    behavior, conflict is not a bad thing for
    a team. In fact, fear of conflict is
    almost always a sign of problems.”
    Patrick Lencioni
    Author of “The Advantage”
    

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11. Agreement Disagreement
    +
    -
    

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12. Agreement Disagreement
    - Decisions get made
    
    - Everyone knows the final decision
    
    - Cohesion towards a goal
    
    - Excitement to move forward
    
    - You feel supported in your path
    +
    -
    

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13. Agreement Disagreement
    - Decisions get made
    
    - Everyone knows the final decision
    
    - Cohesion towards a goal
    
    - Excitement to move forward
    
    - You feel supported in your path
    - Safe to share differing viewpoint
    
    - Lots of learning
    
    - More confidence in choices
    
    - Growing skills in handling conflict
    
    - Ideas are better supported, regardless of
    outcome
    +
    -
    

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14. Agreement Disagreement
    - Solutions not always best
    
    - Not safe to disagree
    
    - Lack of honesty
    
    - Contempt and cynicism
    
    - “I knew that would never work” mentality
    
    - Very little learning
    - Decisions get made
    
    - Everyone knows the final decision
    
    - Cohesion towards a goal
    
    - Excitement to move forward
    
    - You feel supported in your path
    - Safe to share differing viewpoint
    
    - Lots of learning
    
    - More confidence in choices
    
    - Growing skills in handling conflict
    
    - Ideas are better supported, regardless of
    outcome
    +
    -
    

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15. Agreement Disagreement
    - Winning argument > reaching goal
    
    - Lack of trust
    
    - Anger and resentment
    
    - Team members give up / opt out
    
    - “I told you so” mentality
    
    - Very little learning
    - Solutions not always best
    
    - Not safe to disagree
    
    - Lack of honesty
    
    - Contempt and cynicism
    
    - “I knew that would never work” mentality
    
    - Very little learning
    - Decisions get made
    
    - Everyone knows the final decision
    
    - Cohesion towards a goal
    
    - Excitement to move forward
    
    - You feel supported in your path
    - Safe to share differing viewpoint
    
    - Lots of learning
    
    - More confidence in choices
    
    - Growing skills in handling conflict
    
    - Ideas are better supported, regardless of
    outcome
    +
    -
    

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16. Agreement Disagreement
    - Winning argument > reaching goal
    
    - Lack of trust
    
    - Anger and resentment
    
    - Team members give up / opt out
    
    - “I told you so” mentality
    
    - Very little learning
    - Solutions not always best
    
    - Not safe to disagree
    
    - Lack of honesty
    
    - Contempt and cynicism
    
    - “I knew that would never work” mentality
    
    - Very little learning
    - Decisions get made
    
    - Everyone knows the final decision
    
    - Cohesion towards a goal
    
    - Excitement to move forward
    
    - You feel supported in your path
    - Safe to share differing viewpoint
    
    - Lots of learning
    
    - More confidence in choices
    
    - Growing skills in handling conflict
    
    - Ideas are better supported, regardless of
    outcome
    +
    -
    

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17. Minority dissent,
    even dissent that is wrong,
    stimulates divergent thought.
    Nemeth, Staw (1989)
    Advances in Experimental
    Social Psychology
    

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18. Promoter of the Faith
    The Devil’s Advocate
    

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19. “My experience teaches that
    there is nothing better than an
    impressive dissent to lead the
    author of the majority opinion to
    refine and clarify her initial
    circulation.”
    Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
    The Role of Dissenting Opinions
    

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20. Cloverpop: Hacking Diversity with Inclusive Decision-Making
    

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21. Teams that
    identify 7 or
    more choices
    make better
    decisions 92
    percent of
    the time.
    Cloverpop: Hacking Diversity with Inclusive Decision-Making
    

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22. Getty Images/Jason Kempin/Staff Editorial
    

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23. For dissent to exist, we
    need diversity of thought
    

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24. Dissent isn’t
    always the
    safest choice
    

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25. Constructive Destructive
    VS
    
    
    

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26. Conflict
    Management
    

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27. The Inclusion
    Framework
    Shore, Lynn M. et al. “Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future Research.” (2011).
    

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28. The Inclusion
    Framework
    Shore, Lynn M. et al. “Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future Research.” (2011).
    

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29. Techniques for inviting dissent
    

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30. Six Thinking Hats
    The Black Hat
    Play’s the Devil’s Advocate role:
    
    • What are the weaknesses?
    
    • What is wrong with this idea?
    

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31. Six Thinking Hats
    The Black Hat
    Play’s the Devil’s Advocate role:
    
    • What are the weaknesses?
    
    • What is wrong with this idea?
    Simulated
    Dissent
    

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32. Ritual Dissent
    Image courtesy:
    @FriendlyTester on Twitter
    Ritual Dissent is meant to
    simulate the process of
    delivering new ideas and
    to open up new thinking
    to necessary criticism
    and iterations
    

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33. Ritual Dissent
    Image courtesy:
    @FriendlyTester on Twitter
    1. Prepare your idea
    

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34. Ritual Dissent
    Image courtesy:
    @FriendlyTester on Twitter
    1. Prepare your idea
    2. Present it to the group,
    who remains silent
    

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35. Ritual Dissent
    Image courtesy:
    @FriendlyTester on Twitter
    1. Prepare your idea
    2. Present it to the group,
    who remains silent
    3. Turn your back to group
    

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36. Ritual Dissent
    Image courtesy:
    @FriendlyTester on Twitter
    1. Prepare your idea
    2. Present it to the group,
    who remains silent
    3. Turn your back to group
    4. Listen, stay silent, and
    take notes as group
    discusses your idea,
    pointing out pros, cons,
    possible risks, and
    remaining questions.
    

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37. Ritual Dissent
    Image courtesy:
    @FriendlyTester on Twitter
    1. Prepare your idea
    2. Present it to the group,
    who remains silent
    3. Turn your back to group
    4. Listen, stay silent, and
    take notes as group
    discusses your idea,
    pointing out pros, cons,
    possible risks, and
    remaining questions.
    Authen0c
    Dissent
    

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38. Can we make 

    it safer?
    What is the
    impact?
    How can you
    game it?
    How safe are our
    metrics?
    A team exercise
    

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39. Can we make 

    it safer?
    What is the
    impact?
    How can you
    game it?
    How safe are our
    metrics?
    A team exercise
    Authen0c
    Dissent
    

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40. Making Space
    with TRIZ
    A Liberating Structure
    What must we stop
    doing to make
    progress on our
    deepest purpose?
    Image Courtesy of The Liberators: https://medium.com/the-liberators/make-space-for-innovation-with-triz-26a3ec162d41
    

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41. Making Space
    with TRIZ
    A Liberating Structure
    Steps and Schedule
    

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42. Making Space
    with TRIZ
    A Liberating Structure
    Steps and Schedule
    Authen0c,
    Less Direct,
    Future
    

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43. Pre-mortems
    Predict the multiple
    ways you can fail and
    then do something
    about it!
    

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44. Pre-mortems
    Predict the multiple
    ways you can fail and
    then do something
    about it!
    Authen0c,
    Future
    

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45. ⚠
    A few words of caution
    

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46. Not all dissent is created equal
    Simulated dissent creates
    more ideas in support of
    the original position.
    Authentic dissent
    creates more original
    ideas on both sides of
    the debate.
    

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47. “…experimental studies suggest that 

    benefits disappear once the team is tasked
    with deciding which ideas to select and
    implement, presumably because diversity
    hinders consensus.”
    https://hbr.org/2017/06/does-diversity-actually-increase-creativity
    Cognitive diversity
    doesn’t fix every problem
    

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48. Tips for getting
    started with
    diverse thinking
    & dissent
    
    

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49. 1. Hire for diversity of thought (along with all of the
    other things you need)
    Tips for getting
    started with
    diverse thinking
    & dissent
    
    

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50. 1. Hire for diversity of thought (along with all of the
    other things you need)
    2. Focus on inclusion
    Tips for getting
    started with
    diverse thinking
    & dissent
    
    

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51. 1. Hire for diversity of thought (along with all of the
    other things you need)
    2. Focus on inclusion
    3. Teach everyone, especially managers, conflict
    management skills and acHve listening.
    Tips for getting
    started with
    diverse thinking
    & dissent
    
    

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52. 1. Hire for diversity of thought (along with all of the
    other things you need)
    2. Focus on inclusion
    3. Teach everyone, especially managers, conflict
    management skills and acHve listening.
    4. Make sure everyone knows why construcHve dissent
    is important and that it is everyone’s responsibility!
    Tips for getting
    started with
    diverse thinking
    & dissent
    
    

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53. 1. Hire for diversity of thought (along with all of the
    other things you need)
    2. Focus on inclusion
    3. Teach everyone, especially managers, conflict
    management skills and acHve listening.
    4. Make sure everyone knows why construcHve dissent
    is important and that it is everyone’s responsibility!
    5. Be an example of what you want to see in others
    Tips for getting
    started with
    diverse thinking
    & dissent
    
    

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54. 1. Hire for diversity of thought (along with all of the
    other things you need)
    2. Focus on inclusion
    3. Teach everyone, especially managers, conflict
    management skills and acHve listening.
    4. Make sure everyone knows why construcHve dissent
    is important and that it is everyone’s responsibility!
    5. Be an example of what you want to see in others
    6. Reward the desired behaviours when they emerge
    Tips for getting
    started with
    diverse thinking
    & dissent
    
    

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55. “Silence - not dissent - is the one
    answer that leaders should refuse to
    accept.
    Warren G. Bennis
    Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at
    the University of Southern California.
    

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56. julia@55degrees.se
    @everydaykanban & @55DegreesAB
    https://55degrees.se
    http://everydaykanban.com
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliawester/
    C O N T I N U E T H E D I S C U S S I O N
    

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