Controlling Discusion

1. Never compete with the group members:

Most people object to this rule at first, saying, “But I have ideas, too. Isn’t it more constructive for me to put them in the pot?” This is an important point; you do not want to lose any ideas that might be useful. However, it usually happens that if you contribute your own ideas throughout the meeting, you will unconsciously favor them. When the group members sense this favoritism, their sense of commitment will be reduced, and the probability of the meeting being successful drops. Accordingly, I believe that specific times should be set aside when you can contribute your own ideas:

• During the explanation phase and the solution phase just before the vacation.

• At the end of the vacation, but only after you have restated a member’s idea and thus demonstrated your support. (If you thoroughly understand what the member has in mind and can think of a way to build on it or add to it, go ahead.)

• Finally, after all other ideas have been thoroughly explored.

The general rule, thus, is to give all members’ ideas precedence over your own.

2. Listen to the group members:

Permit the speaker to paint any picture he wishes; your aim is to understand his point of view. It is good practice to paraphrase a member’s points to be sure you understand them to his satisfaction. (The chairman of the dog-food case example used this technique.) This sounds easy, but it’s not. You will catch yourself making judgments, tuning out, evoking your own thoughts, and otherwise failing to really comprehend what the speaker is saying.

The importance of listening cannot be overemphasized. Skill in good listening has a pervasive effect on the group’s productivity. During your tenure as chairman, you must carry out repeated transactions with each member. You must listen to each person and prove that you understand. You must establish your intent: “My job is to understand what you have in mind and help your thought along. I am not here to make a judgment.” This posture satisfies group members and also creates an atmosphere in which all ideas are considered worthy of group consideration.

3. Don’t permit anyone to be put on the defensive:

Assume there is value in any notion a member offers; search out that value, no matter how wild or irrelevant the statement may appear. Keep your finger on the psychological pulse of each member. You must watch out in particular for the apparently lighthearted defensive remark. Humor and laughter are often used as a before-the-fact defense against attack, and a member will often retreat with a comment such as “I wasn’t really serious about this idea.” A good leader also probes any laughter he hears because the elegance of an emerging idea may be intuitively pleasing before anyone is consciously aware of what the idea really is. The value of these intuitive urgings must not be underestimated.

There are a number of procedures at your disposal for reinforcing an atmosphere of nondefensive response:

• In accepting a metaphorical contribution (such as “thunderhead”), never require a justification. For example, if Mr. C suggests “fireplug” as a response to your question, “Can you think of an example of a striking image in the world of weather?” treat it as though it is just as appropriate a response as “thunderhead.”

• If one group member disagrees with another’s statement during the vacation, accept both points of view as being potentially useful. Suppose a group is examining “filibuster”:

Mr. D: “A filibuster goes counter to the intent of the democratic process and should not be permitted.”

Mr. C: “I don’t see it that way at all. It permits a determined minority who may be right to bring concentrated attention to its dissent. They may even effect a compromise.”

Record both thoughts; you can’t determine ahead of time which will prove to be the more valuable.

• At the end of the vacation, at solution time, you may have to enforce the spectrum policy. If you see that a member (the expert is an especially likely person) is going to respond negatively, interrupt him to say, “Mr. B, tell us what you like about what Mr. D said.”

• When an idea falters, try to keep it alive by stressing its generality, trying for understanding, and asking for help. Suppose, for example, a group is trying to invent a thermos closure to replace the customary cork (it must be integral and loss-proof, and market tests have shown that the obvious suggestions—hinges, chains, and strings—are not acceptable):

Mr. A: “Well, of course you could always use springs.”

Mr. B: “Isn’t that a hinge?”

Chairman: “Let’s not be too concerned with the hinge problem for the moment. Mr. A, what do you have in mind?”

Mr. A: “I’m not sure, but I thought we could use some sort of a spring that would hold the thing closed.”

Chairman: “You know, this spring idea is intriguing. A spring has, in a sense, two positions—in one it has stored energy, and in the other the energy is released. Can we use this fact to help us?”

Mr. A: “This idea of two different positions—one might be open and the other closed.”

Mr. C (drawing): “How about this! The spring has a membrane on one side, and each end of the spring is attached to the side of the mouth here and here. You have a knob sticking up to work it. In the open position the spring pushes against this side. When it’s closed, it’s against the other side, and the membrane covers the mouth.”

Mr. D: “We could make the membrane out of closed-pore sponge and get insulation.”

By protecting Mr. A’s initial idea from Mr. B and by building on it and asking for help, you will have kept a weak idea alive until it has gained strength.

• If, after every attempt at building has been made, an idea is still lacking in substance, do not finally condemn it. Say, for example, “OK, we can’t seem to use this idea of making bowl-shaped dog food right now. Let’s put it aside, and maybe it will help us later.”

This is not idle politeness. I often see an idea that has been put aside early in a meeting reappear in a later context in which it becomes a key element in a possible solution.

• Avoid pinning down an individual. Do not say, “Mr. A, give me an example of a striking image in the world of weather.” Rather, address such a request to the entire group. No one should be pressured to produce an analogy; chances are this will only make him defensive.

4. Use every member of the group:

Nearly every group has talkative members and quiet members; you cannot afford to miss the contributions that the quiet ones can make. Once you have identified a quiet member, be careful not to pin him down; but when you ask for a response, you might rest your eyes on him first, going on to the others only when he gives no response.

You will also, on occasion, have a member who tries to dominate the meeting. He will have immediate responses and will go into endless detail if you listen. These people are usually bright and valuable, but they can ruin a meeting if permitted to run free. You must control such a person without alienating him (given rotation, he may be your boss). Here are three methods we have found useful in dealing with such situations:

• When you believe that you understand the points he is making, say something like “Thank you, I’ve got it.”

• Avoid the compulsive talker’s eyes when you ask for a response.

• More drastically, when you ask for a response, look at someone other than the talker and hold up your hand to the latter in a casual stop sign.

If none of these methods is effective, and if it is impractical to have a frank talk with the dominating member, ask him to listen to a tape recording of the meeting. That usually does it.

5. Keep the energy level high:

This may seem to be an impossible assignment, but it is not. The energy of a group depends on many things, including some you cannot control (such as a member’s hangover). But there is much you can do toward keeping interest high. Here are some suggestions that I have seen work:

• Your interest, alertness, and intensity are contagious; so when you take over leadership, give it your best. Don’t be reluctant to use body English to underscore your involvement with the group. Move around, move close to the member who’s talking, use your hands—anything that’s comfortable for you will help to keep the group active.

• Select areas (nature, weather) and examples that are of interest to you. If you are caught up in the proceedings, you will show it, and your team will respond accordingly.

• Keep the meeting moving at a fast pace. Don’t spend too long on any one step. Watch the members of the group closely. You can quickly spot the beginnings of boredom and counteract it.

• Humor is invaluable. If amusing associations occur to you, bring them out. When members joke, show that you enjoy it too—if you really do, that is. You are probably not a professional comedian, on the other hand, so don’t try to be. Just be yourself, encourage humor, but don’t let the meeting degenerate into a storytelling session.

• Challenge is good. Ask difficult questions, such as “Give me an example of convenience from the world of geography.”

• Surprise the group. When you are comfortable with the steps (statement, suggestions, vacation, solutions), mix them up. Experiment with possible solutions from unexpected points. For instance, if you have had interesting metaphorical responses, go immediately to possible solutions. If you sense that the team is on vacation accidently, as it were, and that their minds have been away from the problem, go to possible solutions. Both the element of surprise and a fast-moving meeting are particularly important right after lunch or late in the afternoon, when a group is likely to be tired.

6. Keep the members informed about where they are and what is expected of them:

Here are some methods for doing this:

• Keep progress notes on the easel pads.

• When you move from one step to another, make this clear by the questions you ask and by what you write on the pad.

• When the group is deeply involved in a discussion of a metaphorical point, restate where you are when you want to go on to another response. (This helps to keep the meeting moving and helps keep the team with you.)

7. Keep your eye on the expert:

When the members are moving toward a solution, watch the expert’s reactions with great care. Always enforce the spectrum policy; but when the expert shows interest in an idea, try to give him more of whatever he wants. And if he responds to a line of speculation, urge him to take over.

Most of the time the group as a whole will produce only tenuous conclusions at this late stage. If the expert is working hard, he will be listening for clues—statements which are suggestive of a new approach. These may not be valid in themselves, but with his depth of knowledge he may be able to reshape them into valuable ideas.

8. Remember that you are not permanent:

Since a meeting is more effective with a leader than without one, and since each member, perhaps unconsciously, wants to be a leader, I have suggested a compromise: rotation of leadership. One great benefit of rotation is the chastening and beneficial effect it has on the chairman who has been accustomed to exercising his power and authority in the traditional way.

Experiments with this procedure have produced valuable effects other than this one. When you know you will get your chance to lead, you are more willing to commit yourself to a path of thought even if you are critical of it. This rotation procedure breeds strong motivation in a member to stay with an idea and to cooperate with the present chairman. You learn conclusively that if you doze and doodle while Mr. A leads, Mr. A’s mind will be elsewhere when you lead. Every leader discovers that he badly needs all the support he can get.

The rotation of leadership not only adds a vital interest to the meeting, it demonstrates as well that the manager is concerned with developing subordinates. In the final analysis, the manager gives up none of his authority and responsibility. He has added to the data available for discovering a course of action. He has also made it clear that the contributions of his subordinates are valued; this results in increased satisfaction, self-regard, and interest.

9. Do not manipulate the group:

First of all, manipulation is an extremely difficult thing to get away with—in most meetings members are only too aware that you may try to lead them down the garden path, and they are very resentful of such an approach. Furthermore, manipulation seems to be destructive to the main purpose of the meeting, which is to bring valuable creativity to bear on a problem of real importance. If you know in advance what conclusions you want the group to reach, you obviously have no real motive or inclination to generate creative discussion.

On the other hand, you do have clear, legitimate authority and responsibility to make certain choices in procedure; these choices aim the members’ minds in a specific direction. But beyond that you must not ask leading questions or try to control responses to suit your own taste. Similarly, as I mentioned previously, you should be careful to avoid choosing one of your own statements of the problem at the start of the meeting. Such a choice will signal the group that you are serving yourself. You should contribute problems but not use your own. If your problem statement is good, some leader will eventually use it.

10. Work hard at the technique of chairmanship:

Complete abstention from manipulation is difficult but critical. People ask, “How can I project energy and enthusiasm when I don’t feel either? Isn’t it faking if I do?” or, “When the group is not giving me interesting responses, what do I do then—pretend?” No, you try!

Between learning the procedures and mastering them, there often comes a time of some frustration. The newness of the method has worn off, but you have not yet perfected your chairmanship technique. This is the time when boredom and disillusionment may be greatest. After continued use of the method and some experiment with wording your responses to the group, you begin to devote your attention more to what is happening and less to the method. The meetings will begin to move more naturally both for you and for the other group members, and will become more enjoyable as a result. For instance, as you develop skill in listening, you will discover that you hear more things that interest you.

It is like playing football. At first, when the team drills and struggles with the mechanics, it is hard work. Later, when the players no longer need to devote energy to learning the rules and the plays, it becomes more fun. Then the team can work together harmoniously and effectively, taking increasing pleasure in the group sport of winning football games.

I do not believe you will need to fake enthusiasm; in time, you will bring it with you to the meeting and it will act like yeast for the whole group. With their enthusiasm will come more provocative and more constructive and usable responses.