As a leader, you have a choice to look for information or opinions in line with your own or urgently seek honest, unbiased feedback.
Ask for an opinion on any subject, and people will fall into these four categories.
o True Believers
o Believers
o Doubters
o Non-Believers
Depending on the subject, people will oscillate between these four categories. Opinions may change depending on knowledge, the information presented and the speaker’s persuasiveness.
Conduct a straw poll amongst the team at work. Your objective is to flesh out more information and understand people’s attitudes before deciding. To be of value, you must know their starting position.
Here’s a helpful guide.
True believers will always say yes. They have been waiting for you to come to their way of thinking. They will push you hard to move forward and offer little or no resistance.
Believers want to say yes but might lack conviction. They have no reason to say no but may sit on the fence and wait for others to confirm their thoughts. Rarely will their belief convert into positive action before the majority also agree. They may accidentally cause frustration and may waste your time.
Doubters are yet to hold a position on the topic. They will listen to you, ask questions, and need context. They may challenge your opinion or data. You’ll need to justify your position. It would help if you convinced them that their opinion is unfounded and that they will benefit from the change.
Non-believers will deliver a very clear no. They will immediately tell you what’s wrong with your proposal and will resist changing passionately. They are very close-minded about the issue. Note their complaints, but don’t waste time arguing with them.
There’s a trap that’s easy to fall into when discussing future ideas. As a rule, we promote and trust believers. Human nature accepts believers’ opinions when we should listen to the doubters. If you only ask a few trusted insiders, you’ll tend to find a comfortable middle ground and complement each other on being so clever, only to be disappointed later.
Focus your attention on the doubters. Their opinions will provide valuable insight.
- What more information is required?
- What emotions are on display?
- What language do they use to communicate their ideas?
Surrounding yourself with doubters who have the confidence to disagree is a beneficial exercise. After being challenged by the doubters, get out of your comfort zone and follow up with people who matter. Talk to your customers, suppliers and even your competitors. You may discover that your new idea is right on the mark or that someone else tried it last month and failed badly.
Most of us ask family or friends to engage in a robust debate, objectively assess facts and give a realistic evaluation of our business ideas. We seek validation from the ones we love or respect. We put them into a difficult situation as they either don’t know enough to comment or say nothing out of fear of disappointing us. Often, I’ll get a shrug of the shoulders that offers little value.
Alternatively, they are excited for you and tell you it’s great just to keep you happy. You take their advice and confidently rush to launch your new idea or business.
A much better business decision would be to try and sell your idea to doubters willing to pay. If you can’t, that tells you all you need to know about the viability of your new idea.
It’s much easier to walk away at that point.