How fast does your consensus culture eat disagreement?

Most workplaces have an informal time limit for people who don’t get on board with whatever idea is being presented. In these workplaces that time limit varies depending on where the idea sprouts. The CEO’s ideas will unsurprisingly have the fastest march to consensus.

We can see this time limit in action in the one of the best scenes in the comedy movie Brain Candy. Don, the CEO, is questioning Marv, his right hand, in the boardroom:

“So, where are we with that Marv?”

“With what, Don?”

“Our restructuring plan.”

“You mean that thing you just mentioned, just now?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, we’re on top of that, Don.”

Moving down from the CEO level in consensus culture firms, the time limit until consensus may get a bit longer. How long is it at your firm before consensus culture starts shutting debate (and people) down?

The goal in any idea or initiative process is never consensus. The goal is to unearth the absolute best. That means no immediate consensus. It means everybody should poke holes. It means complementary ideas. It means rigorous questioning. Whatever the original idea was it will only get better through this process.

For the leaders who can stomach the ego challenge, encourage vigorous debate. Encourage tough questions. Encourage the team to take the time to get at the very best ideas.