Commit or Leave

"Disagree and Commit" is so common in the technology startup world that many have forgotten its origin. While Jeff Bezos did popularize the saying in both Amazon's Leadership Principles and in a letter to investors, the original phrase dates back to Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel and a visionary in many management techniques we use daily.

Having led both people as a manager and product development as both a product owner and manager, I have experienced the effects of organizational misalignment many times throughout my career. I have disagreed with my bosses and I have listened to both direct reports and cross-organizational team members that have disagreed with me.

I strongly believe in the "Disagree and Commit" principle, but I believe it can sometimes be incorrectly applied, so I want to share my thoughts on ways I've found to correctly apply this important standard.

First off, I believe the bar for following the principle differs widely between leaders in an organization and individual contributors. Organizations work best when everyone considers themselves a leader, so let's focus on what leaders often get wrong about this approach for now.

As a leader, you need to encourage your team to disagree. It's not some annoying byproduct of your reports' personality. It's a critical part of making sure your organization can make the most effective decisions possible. In fact, if you never encounter disagreement with a specific direct report, it can often be a sign of someone who does not feel comfortable communicating their thoughts in the situation you've placed them in or with you. This can often be solved by direct engagement, changing environments, changing the individuals in the room, and making sure the individual has the space in the conversation to give input (even a verbal agreement is a good step to get them to open up).

A leader should never express disagreement with a superior's plan in front of subordinates without the superior in the room. While this piece of advice could be very different at a 5 person startup vs. a 1,000 person established company, I believe it is true in every scenario I can think of. With the superior in the room, the leader should express the disagreement (helps with speed, better decisions, and is honest), but remember to stay respectful and consider who is in the room. In some cases, after registering disagreement, it can be better to continue the conversation in another meeting rather than continue in front of the whole team (this depends on the context of the disagreement, the company culture, the team culture, and the levels of everyone involved).

A common mistake here is to "sell out" the higher ups and express disagreement directly to subordinates and find a way to get them on your side. Short-term, this is actually an effective technique. Obviously your subordinates will side with you, their direct boss who they have a close relationship with, over the "higher ups." Long term, subordinates' opinions of both the disagreeing leader and the company tarnish very quickly in this scenario.

Disagreement is important for companies to make the most effective decisions possible quickly. Every level of individual should be empowered to express disagreement both up and down the chain of command, but leaders must keep in mind how their disagreement affects their team's commitment and their own ability to commit after the disagreement is resolved.

If you disagree with an idea, you should work especially hard to implement it well because that way when it fails you’ll know it was a bad idea. Not bad execution. — Andy Grove

From a tactial perspective, it's important to know why you disagree on a specific instruction. Consider the level of importance of the disagreement and what inputs have led you to your decision. Think about the inputs the leaders that you disagree with may have and their view of the landscape compared to your own. Be very clear in your own thinking and decide whether this disagreement is important enough to discuss.

There is a point at which the only solution to an inability to ‘disagree and commit’ is to quit the company and leave. As a manager, you exercise significant leverage on the output of your team. Not being able to ‘disagree and commit’ with your boss’s direction is a failure in company dynamics, and it likely means that you are now at odds with the broader organisational direction. - Cedric Chin

Disagree with the above? Let me know! (and then commit 😂)