Speak up or stay quiet?

I was recently invited to give a talk to our office interns. As we discussed attitudes at work, one intern asked, “At times, I have an opinion different from my boss or other colleagues who tend to support the boss’s view. I don’t want to be seen as a person who is too critical or negative of an idea that has a general endorsement.”

My response was clear. Have the courage to share your point of view. If a large number of people say or do some thing, it does not mean it is right. If you speak in the context of proposing an idea or solution in the larger interest, you will be heard.     

I have seen several situations in which people walk out of a meeting feeling dejected because they did not agree with the decision that was taken. They feel worse if they could not put across their point of view or their idea was shot down at the outset.

Some of the ways to deal with these situations are as follows:

Prepare well: Not everyone comes prepared in meetings. The one who has prepared well, certainly has an edge over the others. Organize your points keeping in mind the facts, principles, values, and overall mission of the organization. If your idea is consistent with these, no one will be able to shoot it down.  

Speak in the larger interest: When your points are made in the broader interest of work and you are ethically right, it will not be easy for others to ignore them. Even if they do it once, they will not be able to do it a second time.

Don’t be shy to speak early: Generally, the first few speakers guide the course of the discussion. By speaking early, you can put the discussion on the right track. This would be much better than letting it go a wrong way and then struggle to bring it back to the point.

Pick up only the critical issues, not all: Give up on trivial matters by telling you that it does not matter much. But do raise your voice on issues that matter. This will make sure that you are not described as someone who is always critical. I try this and find it to be working most of the times.

Critique ideas, not people: You may not agree with what others are saying but make sure that your response is only on the merit of the idea, not on the person. Speak respectfully so that it is seen a process of dialogue not a conflict of personality.  

Accept that your idea may not fly always:  No matter how good your point of view is or how well you present it, it will not be accepted always. There are always better ideas coming from people with different perspectives and experiences. Many a times, no one’s idea is fully accepted. The best solution emerges when all ideas are treated equally, discussed and a decision is taken using the collective wisdom of the team.

“Everyone goes with the flow … but the one who goes against the flow becomes someone remarkable in life.”- Swami Vivekanand