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Jeff Bezos Uses the 'Disagree and Commit' Rule
- webmaven 6y agoOriginal title: Jeff Bezos Uses the Disagree and Commit Rule to Overcome an Uncomfortable Truth About Teamwork. The rule (which I tend to apply myself, though I didn't have a name for it) works pretty well for me as long as I have had a chance to express my objections, and feel they were understood. That caveat is critically important to me. It's okay if my concerns are dismissed, it's okay if I don't agree with the reason they were dismissed, but there has to be a reason (even if it's just "my gut tells me you're wrong" or "we don't have time to discuss this"). Some people have accused me in the past of just wanting to be able to say "I told you so", and I must admit that there is some element of truth in that (it's not a good look, but I'll own that I am a flawed human trying to become a better one), but mostly it's so if a bad decision is made, we have some data on why we made a bad decision (eg. "we consistently underestimate the work involved in building an in-house solution", or "most of our decisions made under time pressure are wrong"). And anyway, often being able to say "I told you so" is more than enough, I don't actually need to say it. Anyway. If my objections are heard, I can and do happily "Disagree and Commit" all day long, because I might be wrong. That's how I'm wired.