Why do teams settle for bad ideas or kill good ones? Popular
consultant B. Kim Barnes's unique process of constructive debate shows
how teams can create better ideas and outcomes by eliminating obstacles
to honest discussion, creativity, and collaboration.
In too many organizations, great ideas and unusual solutions can be
suppressed, ignored, or attacked. Departments defend their turf, and
people choose what is safe over what is better. Bad ideas move forward
and good ideas die, which can lead to disastrous results--financial or
otherwise.
Luckily, there is a workable path out of this dysfunction. Kim Barnes's
process of constructive debate shows how to establish conditions that
encourage the free exchange, discussion, and development of ideas and
eliminate conditions that prevent potentially useful ideas from getting
heard. By using this tested model, any company or team can improve
outcomes and bring out everyone's best ideas.
A constructive debate is one in which a diverse group of individuals can
express their ideas, engage others in building on and improving them,
explore ideas deeply, and challenge one another's positions in a fair
and productive way. In this book, you'll learn a set of behaviors you
can model and encourage and a process you can facilitate, lead, or
support your client in leading. In this time, where opinions can be
tribal and differences can lead to unconstructive conflict, it's
important to find ways to build robust ideas through a thoughtful, fair,
and inclusive approach.
