Theos-Talk Archives (September 2008 Message tt00335)

Authority is never to be respected.
 
Chuck the Heretic
 
 
In a message dated 9/28/2008 8:11:22 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
mail@katinkahesselink.net writes:

 
 
 
We recently saw an upheaval in dissent in the TS. Many of our  leaders
consider this a problem - regardless of whether the dissenters  are
right, we aren't right in spreading the news. 

But dissent is  actually good for decisionmaking processes. 

>>#

Question:  It seems there's a fine line between anarchy and
enlightenment: How do you  know when you should respect authority and
just do as told versus be a  devil's advocate and disagree?

Answer: Most of us, when we disagree  with a group, keep quiet. Why
make a fuss and ring alarm bells? And  besides, maybe we're wrong. When
you speak up and go against the opinion of  the group, you risk getting
branded as a loner who's not a team player. But  dissent is a crucial
ingredient in a successful team. When I interviewed  Justice Breyer of
the U.S. Supreme Court, he explained to me how dissent  makes the
Court's opinion stronger.

The Supreme Court structured  dissent into the process. When an opinion
is assigned, the majority keeps  on having to answer questions and
objections from the dissenting side. The  process is obviously
professional, but it's also a pain. You have to go  back and forth
going over points time and again. It's easy to imagine how  the process
can be exhausting, and in fact former Chief Justice Rehnquist  believed
in having a more unified voice and basically not airing the  court's
dirty laundry. But dissent brings about the best possible  decision
because it forces you to address all points. Imagine if every  company
went through a dissent process before arriving at an important  decision.

It can get frustrating to listen to and incorporate the  questions of a
dissenter, but by doing so you explore all the different  angles of an
issue. Even if the dissenter is completely way off, exploring  his or
her viewpoint leads to a more accurate and nuanced  perspective.

Airline pilots know this firsthand. The FAA mandates that  every pilot
gets trained in Crew Resource Management (CRM), a method of  learning
to utilize others' perspectives, encouraging them to speak up  when
they disagree with you, and questioning your own position when  others
raise red flags. A truly enlightened team is one that knows  it's
strongest not when there's unanimity, but when there's mutual  respect
and tolerance for each individual's  perspective.>>

_http://blogs.http://blohttp://blhttp://blohttp://blogs.<WBhttp://blogshttp://
bl_ 
(http://blogs.openforum.com/2008/09/23/the-art-of-resisting-irrational-behavior/) 

Katinka  Hesselink

_http://www.allconsihttp://www._ (http://www.allconsidering.com/) 
_http://www.katinkahhttp://wwhttp_ (http://www.katinkahesselink.net/) 


 




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