Another one of my nearly endless and on-going leadership experiments deals with ambiguity in all of its forms and fashions. Many of my exchanges sound like the following, where I annoyingly (to the questioner) dodge giving the answer.
“What do you think I should do?”
Me: “I don’t know, what do you think?”
“How do you want the presentation formatted?”
Me: “Format it so that it clearly communicates your key points.”
Same person: “How many pages should the report be?”
Me: “I don’t know. How many will it take to concisely and clearly communicate your key points?”
What should we do?”
Me: “I’m going to go get a cup of coffee. What are you going to do?”
My wife: “Where should we go out to eat?”
Me: “I don’t know honey, where would you like to go.”
OK, the last one usually doesn’t fly, but the other ones are all valid. These questions come from students and direct reports, and I’m willing to be that you hear variations of these from time to time as well.
Many people fear ambiguity and/or they don’t trust their own ability to create or solve a problem, so they respond with a question that delegates the thinking to someone else. That’s a bad habit, and if the workplace or college classrooms were refereed events, those “you do my thinking for me so I don’t have to be creative or take a risk” questions would be infractions.
The Power of Silence as a Teaching Tool:
One of my own favorite lessons in ambiguity occurred a few years ago in an executive workshop at Kellogg. It was day one of the program on “Reinventing Leadership,” and a group of executives ranging from Director to CEO had just concluded presenting the results of our first breakout and case. I noticed that the two instructors were fairly critical of the less than creative problem-solving and uninspired presentations, and after some coaching with an edge, they proceeded to the next case. We broke back out into our work groups and came back in the room to run the teach-backs, and this is where everything changed.
After the first few report-backs, the instructors quit responding. They sat there and glowered at the room in silence. No other groups were called and you can imagine the fidgeting and palpable increase in tension in the room. Several people tried asking questions and were met with stern, stone-faced glares.
After what seemed like an eternity, one CEO stood up and said, “This is B.S., I’ve got better things to do,” and grabbed his papers and jacket and started to leave. Another participant stopped him and said, “Let’s figure this out…don’t let these guys beat you.” That statement was the turning point.
Slowly people came to life and recognized that we were being played…deservedly so, for delivering uninspiring solutions to vexing issues in our cases, and that the message here was dig deeper and do better.
Instead of reverting to our prior work groups, a new social order emerged with several people taking charge, organizing work teams, clarifying the problems and objectives and others joined in to facilitate solutions. Before you know it, the room was humming with creativity as the instructors continued glaring at no one in particular. Basically, we ignored them.
The exercise continued as each new work group presented suggestions and through another round of integration of ideas, we came up with what we all agreed was an inspired, novel set of do-able solutions for the problems at hand. No instructor involvement required.
Now it was our turn. We all sat down and silently stared back at the instructors. And finally of course, they broke their vow of silence with big grins, apologies and their heartfelt praise. The lessons were powerful and plentiful from that example, not the least of which was how to turn brutal, crushing ambiguity (the silence) into a creative outcome. This week-long program continued with other powerful exercises, but none that left such a strong impression as the few hours of silence.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Whether you are a leader or a contributor, recognize that ambiguity is an invitation to pursue creativity. If you are fortunate enough to work for a boss that encourages free-thinking and that doesn’t mandate explicit compliance on tasks, take advantage of this environment to see what you are capable of creating. If you are the manager, quit answering these questions and teach people to think for themselves.
One of the joys of working is the opportunity to create and the benefits derived from the powerful learning experiences that accrue in the process. Quit asking, start thinking and you’ll surprise yourself.
Art!
Once again you have nailed it. Outstanding piece. You summed it up in one sentence: “Whether you are a leader or a contributor, recognize that ambiguity is an invitation to pursue creativity.”
much appreciated. Thanks for these thoughts put into clear and understandable words.
Dan M
Art, thanks for the post! As both a leader and a follower, I have been holding a mirror up to myself lately and taking a hard look at what I do well and what I can do better. Embracing ambiguity and having the guts to be creative at work, rather than play it safe and practice C.Y.A., is an area where I want to grow. I don’t always like what I see. I recently read an article that said inability to problem-solve independently is a pervasive handicap of Gen Y. I worry that culturally the tendency toward group-think may be getting even stronger. Now more than ever we need leaders with the “intestinal fortitude” to not just think outside the box, but break the damn thing. At any rate, thanks for the post and the opportunity it provided me for a self-check.
Dan and Steph, thank you both for your comments. Dan, thanks for recognizing that statement. I truly believe it. Step, your self-reflection is a sign of great leadership/followership maturity. Interesting observation on the tendency towards group think. -Art
Great post again Art! I totally agree with the idea of quitting asking , and start thinking and we will surprise ourselves, however it is kind of an unnerving statement to me as I have always been told to ask even for the stupedest thing I don’t know, excuse my french! In fact, this goes back to the subject we just covered in Bret Simmons class yesterday night “qualities required for ethical decision-making”, (by the way I love this class), that highlights the importance of having the competence and self-confidence to seek out different opinions about the ethical issue and to be tough minded to decide what is right in terms of a situation instead of making decisions without considering those that could be affected by it, that would be unethical. Can you please help clarify this message! Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with us.
Thanks Art. I really agree with what you are saying. It is very empowering to successfully complete a task or project in which you accept the ambiguity. As a manager, if you dictate exactly how you want a task/project completed that is the best you will get. By encouraging free thinking, the opportunity for significant improvement on the status quo is always a possibility.