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When wholesale support is given to ideas before they are thoroughly examined, it is almost certain that something is going wrong. Some combination of three problematic scenarios is taking place, and each serves to slide the idea out onto thin ice. |
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The first (and obvious) problem is that support for the idea is premature. Supporters are accepting and advocating the idea before it has been tested or even thought through. These supporters invest their blind faith in the idea, often before they have a genuine understanding of its costs and benefits or even its mechanics. As should be expected, the result is often less than was hoped for. |
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The second (and dominant) problem is that support for the idea is political. Here, support becomes a commodity traded between different constituencies within the organization. It gets offered back and forth in unspoken deals between superiors and subordinates, or between one department and another. Again, the quality of the idea is left out of the equation. |
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The third (and most dangerous) problem is that support for the idea is actually a thin veneer. Here, support is a grand facade about one micron thick. Openly, supporters talk the talk and walk the walk. But behind closed doors, doubt and sarcasm prevail. When an idea faces this scenario it is doomed to fail, regardless of its merits. |
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How is a company to avoid these dangers of consensus? The simple answer is to spread the understanding that consensus can be dangerous. Everyone must understand that some things are more important than their clout and what they can do with it. They must understand that their support is precious, and should only be afforded to ideas that have been examined and tested, and if required, altered as well. Remember, we are all responsible for the success of the companies we work for. We owe our best to the people we work with. |
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Dissent is therefore an essential element in the process of making good ideas better. Only when issues of power and politics are removed from the thinking processes of an organization, can that organization freely make good decisions and generate truly great ideas. When this happens, the genesis of genuine consensus occurs, and a wondrous alignment of people and ideas makes desired futures unfold. |
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