Julia Wester 55 Degrees AB @everydaykanban Using conflict & dissent to create robust, resilient solutions 

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“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 

Our beliefs aren’t infallible 

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An expression of an opinion that is different than those commonly or officially held. Dissent Competitive or opposing action of incompatibles. Antagonistic state or action. Conflict 

Dissent Today’s Focus 

Your hiring practices matter 

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

“Groups often fail to outperform individuals because they prematurely move to consensus, with dissenting opinions being suppressed or dismissed.” Hackman, Morris (1975) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Image credit: Jeff Patton 

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“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” 

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 + - Let’s Explore the Polarities 

“…I was assigned to write the court’s opinion. The final draft, released to the public, was ever so much better than my first, second, and at least a dozen more drafts, thanks to Justice Scalia’s attention-grabbing dissent.” Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg The Role of Dissenting Opinions 

Promoter of the Faith “The Devil’s Advocate” Promoter of the Cause “God’s Advocate” vs. 

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

Dissent in the absence of cognitive diversity provides less value 

92% Cloverpop: Hacking Diversity with Inclusive Decision-Making choices 
 (or more) 
 lead to better decisions 7 of the time 

Getty Images/Jason Kempin/Staff Editorial 

Is it safe to have a dissenting opinion? Key Question 

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

Constructive Destructive VS 

Conflict Management 

Techniques for inviting dissent 

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 

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 

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 

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

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 

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

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

⚠ A few words of caution 

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. 

“…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 

1. Hire for diversity of thought (as one aspect). 2. Focus on crea7ng an inclusive environment. 3. Teach everyone, especially managers, conflict management skills and ac7ve listening. 4. Make construc7ve dissent an expecta7on of everyone, including yourself. 5. Reward desired behaviours. Tips for getting started 

“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. 

[email protected] @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