Does Anyone Have The Opposite Point of View?

I got a great lesson in how to lead group discussions from Bill Barnett, a professor at Stanford’s business school. Many years ago he agreed to facilitate a strategy meeting for NetApp. There were eighty or a hundred people, and Bill was going around the room, asking people to share their thoughts on an important strategy decision. People raised their hand to talk, and hand after hand, comment after comment, everyone was in favor. It seemed that there was no dissent at all.

After quite a while of this, Bill said, “Okay, I think we’ve fleshed out the argument in favor of the proposal well enough. Does anyone have a completely different point of view?”

To my surprise, a dozen hands went up. Now it was hand after hand from people against the proposal. At least as many comments against as we had previously heard in support. What was going on here?

My first reaction was frustration. If these people disagreed, why hadn’t they said anything before? We could easily have adopted the plan thinking that we had full support from everyone in the room. To be honest, people who won’t speak up piss me off. How can we make good decisions if people won’t point out the flaws they see? Some problems may be so deadly that they kill the plan we are considering. Even small flaws may need to be addressed for the plan to succeed. Perhaps some people think that raising concerns is disloyal. They’d rather go with the flow than be seen as troublemakers. I disagree. If you spot a problem that others don’t know about, I think it’s irresponsible to keep quiet. In fact, keeping quiet is disloyal because it sets your group up for failure.

My second reaction, though, was admiration for Bill’s simple technique. Despite my frustration, I’ve come to accept that some people won’t speak up, and now I use Bill’s technique myself. It’s amazing how often his simple question—“Does anyone have the opposite point of view?”—triggers a very different discussion. I think it works because it acknowledges that other opinions may also be valid, and it gives very specific permission for people to express dissent.

This technique can also help “flush out agreement.” Have you ever been in a meeting where people keep talking and talking even though they all seem to be saying the same thing? Sometimes it’s because the dissenters are keeping quiet, but sometimes it’s because everybody really does agree. In that case, asking whether anyone has the opposite opinion can help move the meeting forward. Nobody says anything, and it becomes (hopefully) obvious that it’s time to stop talking.

I still wish that people would speak up on their own, but now I have a tool to encourage them. Plus, I have a fantasy that using this technique repeatedly over time can help change a company’s culture, to teach people that it is okay to speak up.

Does anyone have the opposite point of view?

Comments

[John Mertus]

I believe it was William Durant who founded GM that said something like

Gentlemen, I see we all agree on this, I suggest we go home, sleep on it and find something to disagree on.

I believe I found this in the book "Deal Maker"

[Chris Freemantle]

Hi, very interesting blog. I believe General Patten is quoted as saying if everyone was in agreement then someone was not thinking.
As to the blog content - I think your guy was managing you as much as your staff. They will give you the reaction you require. Somehow you have told them to behave in an agreeing way - maybe subliminally with body language. I don't wish to be rude in any way but - I think you need to look to yourself for the clues.