Defence of dissent: A formula for success

For instance, did you know that companies which allowed for a healthy culture of dissent to foster within them were 1.7x more likely to be innovation leaders in their market. And that such companies were 2.9x more likely to identify and build leaders. And on top of it all, they are 3.8x more likely to be able to coach people for improved performance. He also goes to show that inclusive team outperform their peers by 35 per cent. Quite a strong argument, one must say, for the sake of argument.

So, where does dissent origin and how does a company make the most of it. Millar draws our attention to how having the proverbial ‘Yes Men’ is never a driver of progress. “The Cuban Missile Crisis” was successfully resolved as late US President Kennedy actively sought out dissent. This is in contrast to the manner in which he handled the Bay of Pigs invasion.” According to a study conducted in Netherlands centred on the Power Distance Index, which establishes how comfortable a population is with the distribution of power. For instance, in Russia and China, hierarchy is both accepted and expected. This however concentrates power, which in turn, quashes dissent. On the other hand, countries like Austria and Denmark have a flatter hierarchy, which become places where respect has to be earned.

Millar also classifies people into three categories – the colluders, who have a need to belong more than the need to be heard; the second is adversaries, who have more need to be heard, than to belong; dissenters want to be heard and to belong. Work cultures that tolerate the third kind are the ones that are able to create magic.