Have you ever sat silently in a meeting in which an idea that you have known could not possibly work was enthusiastically presented and endorsed by others?
Have you ever presented an idea to your team only to learn after the fact that many of them were not completely forthright in expressing their concerns with your proposal?
Chances are this has happened. And not just once. Such withholding of genuine and open discussion is normalized in most organizations that I work with. Yet, when I ask individual managers and employees what they want, all are quick to point out that ?open and honest? conversation is an imperative.
Unfortunately it?s just not happening and our organizations are struggling as a result. Now more than ever we need to have an authentic dialogue about how to address today?s challenges. The notion that just a few can solve problems for the many is a myth.
While few would argue this, sitting on one?s hands and choosing not to contribute viewpoints continues to be a best practice in most organizations. Why is this?
I think the bottom line is that such behaviour is symptomatic of the disengaged organization.
Most employees considered offering a differing view to be a risk. This may come as a shock to many managers who continue to naïvely assume that because they say they want to hear employees views, those who work for them are willing to express their true thoughts and feelings whenever the opportunity arises.
There are several risks that cause employees to choose silence over commentary: the risk of being wrong, of being seen as a naysayer, of not being a team player or as being arrogant.
In times of downsizing and layoffs, some employees harbour a real fear that speaking up might jeopardize their future employment. So why bother?
Perhaps one of the most pervasive is the risk of looking stupid.
As Abraham Lincoln put it, ?Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.?
As one silently listens to something that appears to make no sense, self-censoring kicks in.
?What am I not seeing that causes this person to think this is a good idea?? ?Surely, with all their years of experience, they must have considered what I?m thinking.? ?What will they think of me if I state such an obvious concern??
In the face of such doubts we gain comfort in the heroic model of leadership and choose to remain silent rather than risk appearing the fool. What is unfortunate about this is that it assumes one person is right while the other is wrong.
Yet in today?s world where problems are complex and require creativity and innovation, such polarity truly gets in the way. What is needed are alternative perspectives and a willingness to accept that reality is not an absolute but simply a point of view.
Organizations need to consider what incentive there is for employees to speak up. What?s in it for them? If there is a risk involved, then what benefit might there be in being forthright, frank and perhaps controversial?
More often than not, despite what organizations may preach, there is a greater incentive to remain silent than to offer alternative viewpoints and opinions. In some cases there is a clear disincentive because employees who challenge are ostracized and called trouble-makers.
So what is a manager to do about this deep-seated problem?
Ultimately, employees must care enough to engage in the dialogue, to give voice to their opinions and put their fears aside.
It is only when employees are fully invested in an organization?s success that they become engaged employees willing to put themselves out there.
Engagement strikes at the heart of organizational effectiveness. I like to think of engaged employees as being noisy employees. They?re vocal, not afraid to hold back and, for the good of the enterprise, are willing to overcome any hesitations that they may have in speaking up.
Silence is killing our organizations. More than ever, today?s leaders need to move beyond the naïve assumption that simply by telling employees they want to hear their opinion, alternative viewpoints will flow. That belief fails to acknowledge the magnitude of the fears that cause employees to hold back. Rather, leaders should roll up their sleeves and get to work engaging their employees. ?
