I’m really not interested in what you think

Opinions. We have many, and we often share them. But in our daily work, those opinions regularly get in the way. For example, the strange situation arises where a scientist is sitting at the table with a singer on a television show, and suddenly the singer’s opinion carries as much weight as the scientist’s expertise.

However, it is totally irrelevant what a singer thinks. Nor is it relevant what I think. What is relevant is what you know. Because experience, knowledge, and facts bring you closer to understanding a problem and finding the best solutions.

In organizations—and certainly in Dutch organizations—I see the same phenomenon. With all these opinions, there is a huge desire for consensus—a shared opinion in which everyone agrees.

If you are going to make decisions within organizations, I understand that you want your colleagues’ opinions to be heard. Especially if a decision affects your colleagues and their work. It’s also important to have input from your colleagues because they can see things you don’t. For example, they can make you see that a decision could be harmful to the company. But that harmfulness comes from evidence—from what your colleagues know, not from what they think.

This is the major difference between a consensus model—a shared opinion—and a consent model. In a model of consent, a decision can be made as long as there are no argued objections. You don’t have to agree completely with the decision another person wants to make, and you may even have doubts about it, but if you have no objections, you agree to it.

It is not difficult to leave room for opinions or better ideas without falling into a consensus model. For example, you can ask people on your team to respond to a proposal for change, giving everyone a chance to share what they think and, more importantly, what they know. Then it’s up to you to decide what to do with this. You can disregard the responses or make improvements to your proposal.

Opinions have their place, but decisions should be based on experience, knowledge, and facts that provide insight, not on finding a comfortable compromise.