Years ago, one of my managers divided our department into two teams for a competition. The goal was to design a quality assurance dashboard for the C-Suite.
This was a new development for us because our manager was very controlling, so this seemed like a positive step in the right direction.
👉 After a few weeks, both teams presented their dashboards, and we voted on a winner. My team won. Our dashboard was crisp, thoughtfully laid out, and told a story; every element was necessary.
We were proud and looked forward to seeing it implemented, but that’s when our manager decided to “help out.”
He proceeded to add excessive graphs and charts, which cluttered the dashboard and broke the narrative. By the time he was finished, it no longer resembled my team’s product.
💡 If you’ve got a vision for an end result and you’re set on it, don’t make your team go through the motions so that you can pat yourself on the back for letting the team have input into the process.
When you consistently overrule your team’s decisions, you miss out on the collective insight they bring to the table.
How do you ensure your team’s voice is heard?
References: Surowiecki J. The Wisdom of Crowds. Anchor; 2005.
Post Title: If you want your team’s best thinking, you have to stop replacing it with your own.