Eric was ready to be promoted out of client services to be COO. He was a good leader with a solid track record, and credibility with the CEO. He was eager for the move yet wanted to make sure he could build credibility with his new team. Many of them had been his peers. Although part of him wanted to jump into the role with both feet, he strategized a slower transition.
He envisioned a reorganization, but Eric wanted to earn trust one by one before the promotion went public. He also knew he would be vulnerable to spending too much focus on his old department –the area he knew best. When confronted with big new challenges many leaders have a tendency to revert to the comfort of familiar knowledge and expertise of the old role. Eric was wise enough to know this.
Decisiveness gets a lot of positive attention. Size up the situation, make a decision, implement – boom! That boldness gets attention and admiration. Yet reaching a decision too fast can result in premature closure, missing valuable information which could influence other options. Decisiveness can come from overconfidence based on past success. Eric knew this wouldn’t always apply to a new challenge he would confront as COO.
Leaders who thoughtfully reflect, consider options, invite opposing opinions and change their mind can be judged negatively as indecisive or flip-flopping. Of course, either stance can be overdone, but I’m going to make the case for staying open to new input. Even times of rapid change can call for a plan that may need to be phased in, implemented with modifications as it unfolds.
Staying Open to Input
Adam Grant, author of the excellent book about innovation, Originals, cites the case of Polaroid’s Edwin Land, the instant photo company which did not go digital and became a shadow if its former self. Though originally innovative in his diverse hiring, the worse the company did, the less Land considered new opinions. He narrowed his options, and remained confident of his decision. The fate of Polaroid resulted from Land’s overconfidence.
Support for ideas can be reassuring to leaders especially at the launch of a new initiative, decision or venture. However, at some point, they need to include fresh perspective. “Minority viewpoints are important not because they tend to prevail but because they stimulate divergent attention and thought,” Charlan Nemeth, psychologist, is quoted in Originals. Grant concludes: Dissenting opinions are useful even when they are wrong.” This insight may have surprised Edwin Land.
Some ways to resist overconfident tunnel vision:
- Be a little less decisive.
- Stay open to unfolding situations.
- Seek dissenting points of view.
- Be willing to modify as you implement a plan.