Thinking differently and collectively about decision making

I’m sure we’ve all been part of a "groupthink" discussion where the course of action or the decision taken has let us feeling uncomfortable, yet we would like to go with the flow for a number of reasons. The result? We come out of those meetings feeling dissatisfied or not quite aligned, we feel disengaged and we are unable to commit fully to the decision being taken. What we often don’t realise is that we are also part of the problem because there was something about the meeting that stopped us from expressing what we really wanted.

This form of groupthink is called the Abilene Paradox, a term coined by Professor Jerry B. Harvey of the George Washington University, which is about the example of a family making a trip that no one wanted to go on. The paradox is more about managing agreement, instead of conflict, which then leads to decisions that might not be the best for the organisation or the team.

This is a common dilemma facing leaders when getting closure on decisions. When is a "yes" actually a "yes", when it could be a "yes, but", "no, but" or even a "no". What is it that stops people from expressing what they really think? How can people be encouraged to say what they really think without fear of reprisal?

Speaking to some of my peers, there were some valuable insights. There is probably no one right answer. Decisions are made based on a combination of evidence and judgement. As such, there are no "good decisions" at the outset. Only time will tell if a decision was good or not. What we can aspire for are "well-informed decisions". If that is clarified at the very beginning, colleagues are likely to feel more open and confident in expressing views that might not be the most popular in the room.

It is a spectrum. In one of the training sessions I attended, we were taken through a simple tool called "gradients of agreement", where, for every action or decision, each participant had to rate a decision on a grade of one to six, with one being absolutely happy with it and six when you are absolutely opposed to it. The scores in between allow a range of opinions in support of or against the action or decision. This approach steps away from the often used "yes/no" binary approach to decision-making. In addition to the scoring, members are also asked to explain their scores, which opens up a conversation and makes the discussion more well informed.

Think things over and do not decide in haste. Unless there is a crisis brewing, there is no need to take a quick decision if there is some reluctance or uncertainty among the group. Decisions taken in haste on important matters are the ones that might come back to haunt us. Effective leaders are known to suspend the need for a decision so that colleagues can go back to the drawing board, check their assumptions, get better information and, more importantly, create some spaces to continue the conversations. Where there is no pressing imperative to take a decision in terms of timeframe, it often leads to decisions being of much better quality and thus engaging colleagues more in taking these forward.

It is about inclusion, not consensus. Decisions are about choices and hence, in most cases, it is highly unlikely that there would be a perfect consensus on some critical decisions. Based on what I have experienced and heard, effective decisions are those that value inclusion over consensus. Inclusion enables people with different perspectives to come up with insights that lead to better-informed decisions. Consensus can sometimes drive us down a path where we cannot make hard choices. I remember our strategy consultant telling us: "If you come up with a strategy that everyone is absolutely happy about, there is a problem because you might not have made tough choices."

We know from experience that, if the decision-making process is flawed, the decisions that are then taken can have some terrible consequences. So it is important to focus as much, if not more, on the process of decision-making as we do on the quality of decisions or, indeed, the speed with which decisions are taken.

(Originally published in the Third Sector, October 2018) 

Embrace the value of reflection

Reflections are often incredibly valuable, yet that is something for which we seem to have very little time. I suppose it is something like meditation or exercising: we know it is good for us, but struggle to find the time or the discipline.

Many of us rely on a number of articles, books and seminars to capture learnings: the distilled wisdom that we gain from the experiences of others. Little do we realise that we can often gain a lot from our own reflections or even asking others for their reflections. There are some practical benefits too – these are cost and time-effective, and, importantly, we benefit from the lived experience of someone we trust.

When I was new to my current role, I managed to meet a few peers who had been in their roles for less than a year, just about the right time for them to reflect on their early experiences and recollect some of them before they were consigned to oblivion. As you can imagine, a lot came through. Here, I highlight just three of them that I found very valuable.

Remember that the organisation existed before you joined It is a no-brainer, isn’t it? Yet how many times have we heard people talking (or how many times have we talked) about how things turned around after they (or we) joined, sometimes completely forgetting that every organisation has a history (unless you are the founder), a legacy, some foundations, however strong or weak? And the organisation is what it is today because of the people who were there before you. When we "inherit" the organisation, it is something we need to embrace as a whole, remembering that organisations, like people, have their strengths and weaknesses.

But how do we recognise the strengths and build on these, and how do we address the weaknesses? Were these strengths and weaknesses more contextual? For example, fundraising was less of a challenge before 2008 than it is now. So did an organisation have fundraising success in the past simply because of a benevolent environment or because of superlative fundraising expertise or outstanding leadership?

The three horizons principle Often, for those coming into senior leadership, the first few months are full of meetings (inductions or otherwise) during which a long list of priorities are thrust in your direction from the different teams or departments. All of them are important from their perspective, of course. As someone who is new to the organisation or the role, or both, it is often difficult to figure out what needs greater attention and what is more business-critical.

This is where that quintessential leadership quality of judgement comes in. The best advice I have received is to place these in three different horizons: what you think needs to be done in the short term (in three to six months, say), the medium term (the first year or two) or the longer term. Sorting this out helps to clear the clutter in our minds about what needs the most attention. Once done, the next filter would be to consider your specific role vis-à-vis that particular issue in terms of doing it, getting it done or facilitating.

Communication, communication, communication As a person new to the organisation or the role, or both, you are probably relatively unknown. People do not quite know what you think, what you feel or what your approach is and are often trying to make sense of you and your steer. This can be a bit challenging for your colleagues because the inability to fathom you adds to a sense of uncertainty and anxiety, especially for those who are uncomfortable with change. For you, the challenge is about what you say (because you are clear and convinced) or what you don’t say (because you don’t want to be seen as judgemental or are not absolutely sure). It is therefore down to communication.

So what do you do when you don’t know what to say? The best approach is to ask as many questions as possible, which gives your colleagues some inkling of what you are thinking while enabling you to get as much information as possible about the individual and the issues. You can and should be as accessible as possible, be engaging and willing to strike up conversations, so that people really try to get to know you. And, very importantly, try to remember the names of as many colleagues as you can. It is just one way to show how you value and acknowledge them.

As it is said: "From quiet reflection comes even more effective action." The one thing we can offer our peers is the benefit of our own reflections, while also seeking to learn from others’ reflections.

(Orginally published in the Third Sector, September 2018) 

Leading on Governance

Leading on Governance 

When I took on my role as Chief Executive at ActionAid UK in August 2015, one of the first things I did was to have an informal conversation with my then Chair, Dr. Margaret Casely-Hayford. 

Margaret had been in post for over a year then, and among the various things she dealt with in her role, was my appointment. A key piece of advice I had received from a number of people when I was taking on this role was about the critical importance of the Chair - Chief Executive relationship. 

It was meant to be an informal meeting, more for me to get to know Margaret a little better. I thought Margaret did have a good sense of who I was, having gone through two rounds of recruitment and received all the references. But then, it was a good opportunity to have this conversation in an informal setting. 

While I was delighted with this opportunity a few weeks before I joined, I was certainly not prepared for Margaret coming so well prepared. She had had extensive conversations with each one of the trustees prior to our meeting, and she had taken copious notes of the discussions. She had particularly pulled out points which she thought would be important for me to know as reflections of the board. And we spent a couple of hours over a couple of coffees going through some of the reflections. I think she probably realised that I had a rather casual attitude to taking notes ....which meant that a couple of weeks later, there was a document with the compiled and curated version of the trustees' comments, that was so thoroughly done that it gave me a script, a mandate of what I needed to manage / tackle / address in my new role ! And on my first day in the office, she scheduled a Skype call early in the working day, a brief one, just to welcome me and wish me well, which was then followed by a face-to-face meeting a few days later, with a simple question : How are you doing ? 

That is the Margaret I got to know - and the more I got to know her, the more impressed I was with the amazing breadth of her knowledge, her passion and commitment to issues of poverty, inequality, injustice and diversity, and her incredible energy to reach out and support us as the Chair of the organisation. She also led the board in discussions on our new strategy, which we finalised last year, and is titled, 'Together, with women and girls'. She also led, with great passion and insight, our quest to embed feminist principles as a core element of our organisational culture. It is no wonder then, that under her leadership, ActionAid UK won the BOND Award for Governance and the Charity Governance Award for Board Diversity and Inclusivity, both earlier this year. 

I am therefore absolutely delighted that she has been awarded a CBE as announced in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2018, for her contributions. So here is a glimpse of the few important lessons I have learnt from her :

1. Speak truth to power : As a leader and a trustee, she has always welcomed discussions that are uncomfortable but that can result in a better outcome for all, without exerting power and influence. In the context of an international federation that we operate in and the democratic principles that guide us, this is really important, and has to be done rather sensitively given the relative size and influence of ActionAid UK within our federation. 

2. Being true to one's values and convictions : It didn't matter to her if she said something which could be unpopular, as long as it was deeply embedded in her values and convictions about equity, fairness and justice. She was very conscious and self aware of her relative position and privilege in society and she was always keen to use it to promote causes that she deeply believed in. 

3. There is never an end to learning : As a keen listener, she would take detailed notes of all our conversations and during meetings. She never hesitated asking a question. She did not mind saying that she didn't know something. She was never deterred by trying to do things that she was unfamiliar with. All that meant that she constantly absorbed new insights, skills, knowledge ever so effortlessly and contributed so widely. She even immersed herself in understanding rap music because she was very serious about mentoring a talented, upcoming and struggling rap artist make his mark ! 

4. Giving credit where it is due : As a Chair, it was really important for her to recognise the unique and distinctive contributions that each trustee made, big or small, and contribution by members of the staff. Her generosity of spirit was absolutely remarkable and her modesty in attributing any areas of success to herself was absolutely humbling. 

And it is especially on this last point that I am offering this as my own little humble tribute to the amazing body of work that Margaret has led. As a first time CEO, it has been an amazing privilege to work with someone as driven, committed and knowledgeable like Margaret. It was with great sadness that we bid good bye to her last month, as she took up the role of Chair of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Our loss is their gain, but we are buoyed by the fact that Margaret will continue to be an ardent and committed supporter of ActionAid UK.

Congratulations Margaret on your very richly deserved recognition - and your contributions also to the Met Police, the Co-op, Coventry University, Great Ormond Hospital, to young artistes, entrepreneurs, the BAME community and to some of the world's poorest communities, especially, women and girls ! Wish you continued success !

Changing Lives

The earth was damp. The market was busy, The farms were buzzing with activity. The rains that year had been good, and everyone seemed to have a spring in their feet, a renewed purpose in their lives. Making my way to the little town of Netrang in the south Gujarat district of Bharuch in India, there was a sense of hope in the air. An area dominated by the 'adivasis' or 'scheduled tribes' (as they are referred to in the Indian Constitution - the indigenous people), they lived on the margins, their lives steeped in poverty, yet a community that was so full of life and resilience. 

It was September 1985. I was actually going to meet my close friend Shankar. It was almost 5 months since I had seen him. I was bored in my job in Mumbai. And it was time to head off and have some fun and just 'chill'. 

Shankar greeted me with his characteristic charming smile. He was (and is) always someone who is full of excitement and enthusiasm - but that day he was particularly excited. I thought it was because I had arrived, and while that may well have contributed to that, he was excited to check the progress of the social forestry and minor irrigation projects that his organisation had been implementing, with which he had been closely associated. And with good rains, there was hope of an early success. 

"It was not easy, initially, as people had to trust us. And winning their trust was always going to be difficult as we are city bred outsiders and very young too", he explained. He was only 22 and his team leader was just a year or two older. Most of the dozen odd team members were in their early to mid twenties. But I had not come to see the projects - I had come to see him and spend time with him. But to my chagrin, he said, "Let us go to the villages and I will show you what we have been doing". 

Succumbing partly to his enthusiasm, I hopped on to his motorbike, and set out to see 'the work'. He kept talking about how they had been working with the local communities, pointing excitedly to the various villages they worked in as we passed them. 

After an hour or so, we came to a village, to be greeted very warmly by the local community. They were very pleased with the rains. They were growing trees to arrest the decline of green cover. The saplings were doing very well and looked healthy. They had a local management team in place to keep an eye on the plantation, keep the accounts and generally get the community engaged. They had a long term plan. After 10 years or so, some of these trees could be sold, but in the interim, there would be fodder, some firewood and seeds available. Some employment had also been generated and a community so short of cash had some money going around. They could now dream of a better future for their children !

The story in the next village was not so different. Here, there was a minor irrigation project which was to arrest the flow of water through a simple construction, which would then enable the local farmers to irrigate their crops for the first time and get a better return.

As a 22-year old myself, I watched in fascination at what I was witnessing. Of course I could see what the trees and the irrigation could do, but I had learnt some key lessons from Shankar without he probably having realised it. These were :

* The power of trust - When there is trust, you can move mountains. There is a book by Stephen Covey on 'The Speed of Trust' which I read many years later. That is so true. As an outsider and as a  youngster, Shankar had built trust with the local communities in a matter of just 6 months. It had to come from his personal style and engagement, and a genuine empathy

* Enthusiasm is infectious - It is so easy to identify challenges, less so, to identify opportunities. Here was a great example of how enthusiasm based on belief in what would work was being translated to generate enthusiasm across different stakeholder. As a naturally enthusiastic person, Shankar could demonstrate that very effectively

In all this though, there was a much deeper lesson, which probably even Shankar did not realise at that time - that we all have the power to change something, and that is, Change Lives ! That realisation has stayed with me always and is so core to my self belief. 

A Preamble - Lessons Learnt in Leadership

Lessons Learnt In Leadership 

My career started 32 years ago, on April 15, 1985, to be precise. Each year, I look back at the years gone by, the experience accumulated, the knowledge gained – and very importantly, the people I have met, worked with and have inspired me.

It is truly a humbling experience to think back and reflect on all those wonderful individuals who had such an influence in my life, in my thinking and in my own leadership journey. Never will I be able to repay that debt – but I can certainly acknowledge the contributions they have made to what I am today and influence my thinking, attitude and practices today. This blog is a small attempt of mine to pay tribute to all those from whom I have learnt invaluable lessons. And by writing them down, I am reliving those moments when what they said or did was embedded in my own consciousness, which I bring to the fore when I need it.

It was John F Kennedy who once said : "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other". I cannot agree more with that. With every single step that I have made on my leadership journey, I have realised how much more there is to learn. And given the privilege that I have had to learn, I wish to share that more widely.

I have named my blog 'The Triple L' - the 'triple l' being 'lessons learnt in leadership'. That is an ongoing journey, and the journey continues ! 

I hope you as the reader will find this useful. I will immensely appreciate if you can find a bit of time to read, comment and share if you think this is indeed of some value !

Thank you – and may your leadership journey be enriched with learning !