Imagine you’re at a meeting and sharing ideas. “Yes, and” is a foundational improv technique, but it’s also a practical philosophy for generating ideas and building relationships. For example, you might ask: “What led you to that conclusion?” or say, “Tell me more.” Practice “yes, and.” Instead, adopt an attitude of curiosity and ask questions to understand their perspective better. Sometimes, exposure to counterevidence can even increase our confidence that our cherished beliefs are true. Confirmation bias makes you adept at spotting the weaknesses in someone else’s position or argument but blind to the flaws or holes in your beliefs. When someone disagrees with you or challenges your opinion, override the natural urge to resist or discount. Multi-tasking, showing impatience, and failing to listen well signals that you’re not interested in that person and what they have to say. Be fully present, whether it’s a scheduled one-on-one or someone on your team asks for five minutes. You might also use the time to solicit feedback and ideas and inquire if there are any issues you should be aware of. For example, do not cancel your one-on-ones if there is no agenda rather, repurpose the time to check in more holistically on the person. Instead, commit to holding time and space for your team and colleagues. This tendency can degrade trust, motivation, and engagement on your team - and cut you off from valuable information. Suppose you neglect to balance a drive for results with nurturing your relationships, as Michael did. When your team sees that you meet challenging comments with gratitude, you’ll encourage more fearful employees to also speak up. Or, like Aviral’s team, they might hold back for fear of not having the answers to all your questions and looking dumb.įinally, publicly acknowledge and thank independent voices that share a dissenting opinion, question your logic, or disagree with you. Assure them they don’t need to build an ironclad case for every idea. I need your help to see mine and want you to question and disagree with me if you think I am off base.” Regularly repeat this request and follow up directly with your team members to specifically solicit their feedback and input.Īdditionally, consistently ask your team for their ideas. You might tell your team, “We all have blind spots, myself included. No matter how egalitarian and open you are as a leader, chances are high that many of your people withhold valuable information, ideas, and concerns from you. To guard against the strategic disadvantages of being stuck in an echo chamber, practice the following behaviors: Continuously solicit feedback and ideas. Or Melissa, whose habit of frequently saying “no,” “but,” or “however” discouraged her team from providing feedback or offering dissenting opinions at meetings. Collectively, these forces can result in leaders getting stuck in an echo chamber.Īnd while most leaders are aware of these forces and work to create a team culture that fosters voice and candor, subtle leadership behaviors can get in the way of their intentions.įor example, take my client Aviral, whose overly Socratic method of communication resulted in team members hesitating to bring ideas to him until they were “fully baked.” Or Michael, whose pacesetting style caused people to feel like they were imposing on his time and shouldn’t bother him with questions and concerns. This dearth of diverse perspectives is further compounded by a couple of issues: problem-solving methods that lead to groupthink and the difficulty of establishing psychological safety. This occurs partly because of the affinity bias, which leads us to favor, associate with, and hire the people to whom we feel most similar.
The higher leaders go, the more likely they are to find themselves in an echo chamber, surrounded by people who think like them and agree with them.
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