I’d like your answer before mine.
Put five capable people around a table and you have the possibility of five useful perspectives.
I would like to hear all five.
That becomes particularly interesting when one person has more authority, more experience or simply a considerably more confident voice.
Imagine opening a discussion with:
“I think we should do this. What does everyone think?”
You have asked for opinions. You have also given everyone your preferred destination before they have had a chance to describe what they see.
Someone may now spend their turn improving your suggestion. Someone else may decide their different approach needs a much stronger defence.
A useful observation might remain unspoken because it seems like a small detail beside your confident opening.
I find another sequence more interesting.
Ask the question. Give people time to consider it. Hear their reasoning. Then contribute yours.
For example:
“What would you do first, and why?”
“What information matters most here?”
“What are you noticing that we haven’t discussed?”
Specific questions give people something substantial to contribute. A short written answer before the discussion can help preserve each person’s initial thinking, too.
I can listen to an approach and still choose another. I can learn something from a person whose conclusion I don’t share.
The value is in understanding what led them there. They may have noticed a constraint, an opportunity or a practical detail that changes the quality of the whole discussion.
Leadership gives us opportunities to shape a conversation.
One particularly useful opportunity is choosing when to enter it.
Sometimes the most interesting thing I can say first is:
“I’d like to hear how you see it.”
Silvia
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