Can't We All Just Disagree?
“Research has shown that consensus-based problem-solving groups are often where innovative ideas go to die.” That’s the lead sentence in a new Harvard Business Review article, “How to Steer Clear of Groupthink,” by Jennifer Mueller, Sarah Harvey, and Alec Levenson.
The researchers say that to solve a problem, it’s not enough to have well-intended, well-informed experts at the table. There also has to be genuine willingness to challenge the status quo. Even if there’s general agreement that things aren’t going as well as they should, sticking with the imperfect devil that we know can seem safer than advocating for something new and untried.
But they add that sometimes it only takes one person to open up other people’s minds to bold innovation. That person, of course, has to be someone who is heard and respected. And it falls on whoever is chairing the meeting to actively encourage divergent ideas. (Otherwise, what’s the point of meeting?)
It also requires a shift in focus from asking “what should we do?” to going back to “what is the problem that must be solved?” Basically, that involves taking a fresh look at ends before tackling means. That, too, requires a deft hand by whoever is guiding the session, officially or otherwise. According to Mueller, Harvey, and Levenson, building consensus around the broad goal enables participants to float different “placeholder solutions,” as they call them—trial balloons that can be floated and compared.
That’s all well and good, but I think breaking out of groupthink also requires a culture in which people are willing to be provocative and know when to do just that. This publication is the Jazz of Negotiation, after all, so let me offer an example from band leader Benny Goodman’s famed Carnegie Hall concert in 1938.
His band was uptight playing in that historic venue in front of a society audience dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns. Goodman himself was unable to push his musicians to swing, but drummer Gene Krupa galvanized them with a drum solo that was so wild that jazz critic Phil Schaap calls it “nearly cacophonous.” Krupa hit every part of his kit as hard and as fast as he could, “not trying to wake up the crowd,” Schaap says, but “trying to relax them or scare them beyond their fear.”
The beginning of the song is pleasant, but it’s closer to elevator music than it is to hot jazz. Then at the 3:15 mark, Krupa took over in his solo and he was insistent. In the closing bars, right after that, the rest of the band jumped onboard.
Goodman was still center stage with his baton. But it was Krupa who rocked his mates out of their rut and made everybody swing. It takes a few seconds to start, but you can listen to the recording below. Krupa explodes at the 3:15 mark.
If the team you lead is mired in the status quo, whom do you look to shake things up? And if you’re a member of a group that’s stalled, might you be the person to provoke others to see things in a new way?
Housekeeping
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