Every organization needs two dummies.
Seb and I were brought on by a team to design a workshop for 75 people from across several regions of a global insurance organization to align on new strategy and ways of working. We attended a kickoff call to go through a presentation outlining the overall program approach which would inform our design for the workshop.
After the first few slides, Seb and I were pinging each other in the background confessing our confusion about the clear purpose, objectives and outcomes of the project. Everyone else seemed to shake their heads knowingly. This fueled our confusion further. Why did everyone else seem so sure when, with every passing slide, Seb and I felt more lost.
We felt like two big dummies.
The presentation continued. Our confusion grew. After several more pings, Seb interrupted the presentation, explained our confusion, and asked a clarifying question. One by one, every person on the call admitted to their own confusion. It turned out everyone else, including the presenter, didn’t quite understand either.
Seb’s question helped the group realized the approach needed simplifying. The presentation was revised. Seb and I felt more confident. We designed and facilitated a successful session weeks later. Had Seb not spoken up in the meeting, the entire partner group would have continued complying with something they didn’t fully understand.
Years after this meeting, I stumbled across this video in which Simon Sinek tells a story that felt as if it were inspired directly by our experience.
The question that raced through my head, “why was no one willing to ask the question or admit to not understanding?”
I found one possible answer in Hans Christian Anderson’s famous children’s story, The Emperor’s New Clothes. The plot centers on two tricksters who convince an Emperor, and everyone in his employ, that they have made beautiful clothes only visible to smart people. The Emperor holds a parade to show the townspeople his beautiful new clothes. The tricksters charade is shattered when a young boy in the crowd points out the plain truth that the Emperor is, in fact, not wearing any clothes.
The reasons why the characters in the story, and many people in a corporate environment, did not speak up might be because of two types of psychological social influence known as informational influence and normative influence.
Informational social influence happens when a person conforms to gain knowledge, or because they believe that someone else is ‘right’. In the Emperor’s New Clothes, many people went along with the sham because they believed that everyone else, who also said they saw the clothes, must be right. In the business meeting, the people in the room may have convinced themselves that if everyone else seemed to be right, then it must be them who is wrong. This social behavior led to acceptance and compliance to the presentation material.
Normative influence happens when a person conforms in order to be accepted and belong to a group. In the Emperor’s New Clothes, those who conformed wanted to remain in the Emperor’s inner circle and did not want to risk being ostracized for not agreeing. This may also be the case in the business world. Many people may go along with things they don’t quite understand in order to prove they belong, or ensure they are not excluded in key decisions going forward.
To test these types of social influence, social psychologist Solomon Asch conducted experiments about conformity and compliance by giving groups of college students a simple “perceptual” task. In the experiment, all but one of the participants were actors. The experiment was to explore the likelihood of individuals going along with the crowd, even if they perceived the action to be counter to what they believed.
In the experiment, 75% of participants gave at least one incorrect answer out of the 12 critical trials. When asked why participants went a long with the group, participants shared factors such as confidence, self-doubt and the desire to be normative.
To see a modern example of this phenomenon, watch this video about how one individual, in a crowd may forgo what they believe and go with the crowd for fear of being the “dummy”.
Asch’s research also revealed that the presence of a “true partner” enabled higher levels of nonconformity in the test subjects. Only 5% of the participants continued to answer with the majority when they had a true partner. Subjects claimed a degree of “warmth” and “closeness” towards the partner, and attributed an increase in confidence to their presence. If the partner was removed or changed back to join the majority, the subjects would follow suit.
This might explain why Seb and I have a higher confidence to challenge conformity of groups. We serve as each other’s true partner. Without each other, there is a higher probability that we would conform with the decisions and actions of the group even if alone we might not understand or agree.
The story of the meeting above is only one example of the many times Seb and I have found ourselves in situations where there were questions that needed asking, but no one asked them. Seb and I have agreed that we would be the little boys in the parade looking up at the naked Emperor. We agreed that if we were in a situation where it seemed everyone was going along with something we didn’t understand, then we would be the dummies in the room to bring it up.
As a result, we have helped create empathy, understanding, alignment and agreement across teams. We have saved time, effort and money for organizations. We have built bridges, smashed silos and organized disparate groups into a community. We have helped leaders articulate visions, and empower their people to have a voice in designing change.
If you are a leader looking to increase outcomes threatened by social conformity try these three things:
- Promote a culture of courageous curiosity — model and promote behaviors that help create the space and opportunity for people to ask questions that improve greater understanding and insight. Take opportunities to reward those who put themselves out there with the questions they ask. Be generous with public praise for those who ask the difficult questions or challenge the status quo with positive intent.
- Stop thinking no response to “are there any questions” is a good thing— if you come to the end of a presentation, meeting or conversation and you ask “are there any questions” and you get no response, don’t assume that everyone clearly understands. If no one responds, you can ask questions to create the space and opportunity for your culture of courage to flourish. My favorite questions to ask are “what do you love about this?” , “why won’t this work?”, and “what else needs to be done to make this clear for people outside this room?”
- Find or hire two dummies — when people don’t come from the world in which you currently exist, they will ask questions to gain understanding. They may also be more apt to challenge conformity. Seek out people you can elevate from within the organization, or bring in those to ask beautiful questions and challenge with permission. It may sound like they will slow things down, but the clarity they create will increase speed to value.
In order to achieve success, organizations need people willing to risk looking dumb in front of leaders or peers. Organizations need people asking questions when they don’t get it so that together they all might better understand the challenges and opportunities before them. Organizations need people to fight conformity in order to identify better ways forward. But until that is commonplace, Seb and I will be the Two Dummies in the room to help.
Curiously yours,
Two Dummies
