I didn’t feel like I could contribute to the first team I was in.
As a junior soldier I was in survival mode, focusing on not making mistakes or looking foolish. Also, most of the planning and decision making was done by one person. In hindsight, I had a lot to offer, even as a new soldier to special forces.
I didn’t realise that until my next leader. They made sure everyone was part of the planning process and asked for everyone’s opinion. They assigned junior members to “red team” (stress test) plans and would check in with us one-on-one to ask what we really thought about how the team was working.
This was one of the best teams I worked in.
Diversity of thought on its own is useless.
There is a huge focus on diversity, and for good reason. Diversity of thought is critical to success. It improves decision making and problem solving by avoiding groupthink and challenging old ways of thinking. It boosts innovation and creativity, and research by McKinsey and Co in 2020 even linked diversity to better financial performance.
But if the diversity in your organisation isn’t operationalised, it’s useless.
If people don’t feel safe to speak up, offer ideas or challenge plans, you won’t get anything new. If decisions and planning are dominated by two or three people, others will sit on the sidelines.
Diversity is only useful if leaders create an environment where everyone feels that they can contribute, critique, and experiment.
It takes time, but simple strategies can start this process.
- Designate people to “red team” your plan. Their role is to look for flaws, assumptions and mistakes.
- Do a Pre Mortem. Once the plan has been decided, but not yet implemented, ask your team to imagine it has failed six months from now. Have them individually write a story about why it failed.
- Never plan in isolation. Encourage the quiet team members to contribute, even if it’s in an email after the meeting.
- Always acknowledge contributions, even if they aren’t implemented. Ensure that ideas are never mocked.
There are plenty of other strategies out there, but the goal is to create a culture where the individual thinking, skills and strengths of your people are truly used.
