the expert dilemma
Being an expert is an interesting place to be. People listen to what you have to say and you are able to support your position with experience, data, and research to prove your case. So far, so good.
The challenge then occurs when faced with another expert who also has experience, data and research to prove their case which is different to yours.
This is when the disagreements frequently turn to arguments and conflict – each person is convinced that they are correct and tends to go on to tell others why they are correct (or at the very least, more correct than the other experts) and so the conflict escalates. We have all seen and experienced this many times in our careers.
the compromise triangle
If we look at this from a visual perspective, we can imagine three colour experts, each asserting that their position is correct. If we place these onto the three apex points of a triangle we can see that each expert seeks, through their assertions and experience, to pull the others to their apex. When each person is correct from their own perspective, there is limited chance of anyone moving – a stalemate situation.
If we push the three protagonists towards a single solution we generally tend to see them agree to a degree of compromise and locate themselves at the centre of the triangle. When we do this we can readily see that the consensus is not the right outcome at all – we go from three colours at the apex to a white space at the centre – the point of compromise has lost the richness and value of the original positions.
This point of compromise (or point of equal dissatisfaction) is grudgingly accepted due to the parity of the movement each has made but, in all likelihood, it is not the right answer. It is derived fundamentally from competitive positioning rather than a genuine focus on collaboration. It is the result of moving from conflict to consensus when the more effective journey is to move from conflict to conversation.
from conflict to conversation
We cannot move to conversation by continuing to assert the correctness of our position (backed up by the wealth of our experience), rather we do this by seeking to understand the others’ views and experiences and then translating these into the outcome that we want to achieve.
Of course, this can lead back to the original argument as each wants the ‘correct’ answer based on their expertise, so we have to lift our vantage point to focus on the broader position. We do this by asking more questions, for example:
- Who is the customer and what do they want?
- Who are the stakeholders and what do they want?
- What is our strategy and how do we ensure alignment?
- What is our culture and how do we align with that as we find the answer?
- What is our reputational position and how do we optimise it?
As we ask questions from the broader vantage point, we start to see the situation from different perspectives than our own expertise and recognise that as experts we can be correct and incorrect at the same time. This seems to be a paradox but in essence is quite straightforward – the measure of correctness is a function of cause, context and consequences and we can only really understand these by asking questions and seeking to understand empathically what is important to others.
co-creation strategies
This new perspective enables us to then focus on co-creating the outcome that we want to achieve that is appropriate for the specific situation that we are in. Thus, we move from conflict to conversation to co-creation.
The simple hacks to this journey are
- Start at the end and work backwards – what is the outcome we need to achieve, to whom is this important and why?
- Ask questions to understand and genuinely listen to what is being said, even if you disagree
- Focus on insights not expertise to inform and enable that outcome to be achieved
- Be curious about what solutions there may be other than the one derived from your expertise
- Use your experience as a guide not a constraint as you engage in the conversations
- Attend as much to the process of the conversation as you do to the content – focus on how you engage and how your behaviour affects others then use your skills productively not competitively.
- Reflect on the process and consciously learn how to be better next time
