Particularly in consulting engagements - but also in contract roles leading the delivery of business outcomes - I often get asked my opinion on things; most commonly the dynamics either enabling or impeding those outcomes. That’s a compliment, for sure - and also a responsibility. I feel its weight.
Though not shy, I am introverted: I prefer to let other people do the talking and create the energy. People who’ve worked with me are sometimes surprised to learn that. Yes, I’m articulate and confident - forthright even, when needed. “You always seem to know exactly what to say in meetings”, someone fed back to me recently. Well…to the extent that’s true, it’s mainly situational awareness and experience. And, simply, leading.
However, when a senior executive, program sponsor or key stakeholder asks my opinion on something - ideally, I prefer my words to develop a little slower. I like time to consider my view - including looking at the problem through their eyes (an approach that engenders deep respect and trust). Sure: anyone can fire off their view straight away and, obviously, we all see this - and have to share our own views on things in real time - every day. But organisational seniors with accountability for people, outcomes and annual cycles need and take time to reflect on things such that they make informed and considered decisions – and, to a certain extent, why should it be different for us in the delivery world?
In practice, the first key is to understand the question. Like, really understand it. Where is it coming from? What is the person asking it most interested in or concerned about? Why? (the most-critical consideration) What are they feeling as a result? And what do good answers look like to them: definitive statements, a list of options and a recommendation - or simply things they might like to consider and ways of looking at them from your own experience? Know your questioner! And, if you don’t, ask them - or someone you trust who does.
The next key is to realise that the answer to the question must come from they who asked it. This is also a biggie: how I wish I’d known that earlier in my consulting career. I actually only learned it when a wise consulting director once said to me, “Andrew, even if you come up with the right list of options, the best answers are always the ones the client arrives at themselves.” I was a senior executive for many years - I engaged consultants! - and so I knew this intuitively; but then, when I went into the field myself, I mistakenly thought I needed to know all the answers.
No: “consulting” means clients consult with you.
Now, being in a contacted role - such as a Program Director or Manager - as I often am is different in that you are part of the organisational structure and levels of accountability and decision rights come with the role. I need some autonomy in order to do my job, to make things happen without always having to seek permission - the program hierarchy structurally enables this and everyone benefits. But, even then, sponsors and key stakeholders will discreetly ask my opinion on things from time-to-time.
So, the question becomes how to respond?
With that in mind, another realisation I’ve come to in business is that it’s about objective conversation. Sure, there are some organisations (and particularly seniors within them) that are more…let’s just say “directive”. But, as I look back on the arc of my career as it now approaches four decades, I met most of them in the first two-thirds of it. Today, whilst there are still senior, accountable individuals (as there must be) who make many final calls, most business and delivery problems are solved collaboratively - and that’s generally a good thing.
And so, I’ve found my own ways to orchestrate conversations and one of these is to offer my opinions on critical questions in two steps, the first of which is “This is what I think I think”.
Now, this is not to be mistaken for avoiding the question: as my old protagonist, John McEnroe, memorably exhorted, “Answer my question! The question, jerk!”. Though I hasten to add that he wasn’t talking to me at the time, I loved John - he brought out the best in me on court. All these years later, a technique I teach in business is that when someone asks you a question, say to yourself, “The answer to your question is…” - you can even say it out loud if you wish. This is brain-training for answering questions well. Strict or formal questioners like CEOs, Boards or lawyers will appreciate you taking that perspective: they have an inverse amount of patience for wafflers as compared to the number of wafflers they typically encounter.
Say I get a 4-week engagement to perform a health check on a major program of work that’s lost its way and prepare a report for the sponsor. 2-weeks in, after determining my approach and taking in a ton of data points - written and verbal - I’m going to seek out a quiet location (staring out an aeroplane window at 37,000 feet is prefect…) for half a day and consider what I think I think. A more traditional way of expressing that would be to say “consider my preliminary view”. Then, a few days later, I’m typically sitting down with my sponsor and sharing my views couched accordingly. I then get to hear their views in the space I’ve created by leaving the door a little ajar, and a conversation ensues. The resulting understandings underpin a better final report.
I’ve learned that the same technique can be applied to less formal questions over shorter horizons. Not hallway questions, but rather (for example), “Andrew, the risk profile on this upcoming stage gate remains too high for me and the Board - but we’re still not getting much empathy from the regulator. What can we do?” This is obviously a question that suits an answer featuring options. But it’s also one where, whilst I am likely to think of all the credible options and the pros and cons of each, I am unlikely to be able to command the full spectrum of potential responses from Directors - nor to singularly weigh anything but the obvious regulatory response: compliance by the deadline is mandatory.
So, I tell my sponsor that I’ll have the options and “what I think I think” by COB tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’ll work with their EA to get an hour in the sponsor’s diary for the following morning to discuss it. The aim of our discussion will be to get to an agreed list of options and our recommendation and rationale, together with the names of two or three people to test it with and how to frame it with them.
Ahead of that morning meeting with my sponsor, my approach:
Sets up a structured resolution path from the outset and manages expectations accordingly, giving me time to think
Is participative and inherently fosters options-based, problem-solving conversation - beginning with my sponsor
Enables me to be candid, and to initially put forward ideas that may be challenging in the room and / or unpalateble beyond it
Allows for unknowns - either way, but particularly to me - to become better known, including other people’s views or likely reactions
Puts my sponsor in the position of coming to the answer and being seen to drive a consultative process – to the extent necessary – in order to do so
For point and purpose, let’s quickly explore some alternative scenarios and replies:
“Give me the answer, tomorrow.” I respect your authority, but how about we come up with the answer together and take the time to consult with those whose support we’ll need to get it approved by the Board?
“Let’s call x, y & z into my office this afternoon and nut it out with them.” I like the collaboration but not the risk of losing control of the process - nor do I like not having the time to think about and discuss it with you first.
“It’s your problem: make the deadline”. It’s our problem, Mx Sponsor... Let’s look at the options together and propose an answer that we’re both comfortable with.
So, sometimes you need to slow down in order to go faster. Where your opinion is asked by a senior business leader on a critical question, find ways to consider it participatively and share it progressively. Start by telling them “what you think you think” and go from there.
APW.
Spectacular work Andrew !