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Three moments that matter for inclusion Inclusion is critical to agile decision-making. Camelia Ram outlines how leaders can give their people a sense of agency
Diversity and inclusion are intrinsic to effective decision-making practices in the face of uncertainty. In a world of relentless change, individuals at all levels in an organization must develop the confidence to make decisions at pace with little or no information on potential outcomes. This requires three shifts: in how choices are framed, information is gathered, and outcomes are evaluated. Firstly, in order to frame the choice to be made under uncertainty, it is
more important to ask questions than seek answers. Asking questions allows different ideas to be configured in ways that foster new ones. The second shift is from gathering information in order to predict the future, to gathering information to create the future through iteration. Making many small decisions in pursuit of making an idea better requires openness to radically different ways of doing things and a willingness to change our mind. And the third shift is to move
from optimizing outcomes for complex choices, to being able to sustain the adverse consequences of multiple smaller choices. These three shifts imply that making decisions at pace under uncertainty encourages us to behave in a manner that invites curiosity, imagination and experimentation. In other words, being agile requires us to adopt an inclusive mindset. What are some of the practical ways in which organizations can achieve these shifts?
Leaders must create the conditions for others to express their views
FO S T E R I N G S PAC E TO A S K THE TOUGH QUESTIONS
Tough questions ask how we could be wrong. A scientific approach is designed to ask the tough questions by seeking evidence to prove a hypothesis wrong, and it can be applied effectively in business. For example, Amazon’s approach to new product development confronts teams with a potential end-result for reaction. A press release announcing the finished product is shared with the team. It describes the customer’s problem, how current solutions are failing, and why the new product will address this problem. It provides an effective, non-threatening way for the team to reflect on what is being built. When asking tough questions, leaders must create the conditions for others to express their Dialogue Q2 2020
views. This may entail being intentionally quiet, pausing for a couple of seconds after asking questions, and regularly asking for feedback. It signals a desire to learn and an acknowledgment that the leader does not have all the answers. This may be uncomfortable, but it generates commitment and engages others to act on issues. Take Salesforce’s internal “Airing of Grievances” tool, where a live stream discussion has been used to help the chief executive engage with issues facing the company’s engineers. The CEO’s decision to engage with uncomfortable topics encouraged the wider leadership team to ask questions about what was going on in the business, instead of shutting down discussion.