TL-DR:

  • You need to understand something thoroughly enough to disagree with it.
  • You need to quarantine your disagreement in order to commit to a decision.

The precondition to “disagree and commit”.

Ideally, you try to lead with Context, not control. Which means you do not make all the decisions yourselves. Rather, you make some decisions, and then provide context around those decisions to people you lead, so that they can make carry out their roles in meeting business objectives.

In many cases, you seek feedback on a potential decision before making it. Hopefully, you make this decision after taking all the diverse viewpoints into account. Once you have all the feedback, the decision is yours alone to make, because you are “accountable” for the decision.

Therefore, a precondition to “disagree and commit” is a decision that has already been made. For a decision that has not been made, you are merely seeking feedback, not commitment.

What does it mean to disagree?

It is important to make the distinction between “dislike” and “disagreement”. For me, a dislike is something instinctive, based on my gut-feeling about something.

People often confuse “dislike” with “disagreement”.

A gut-feel, an instinctive reaction, is free. Every sentient human being has them. There is no effort involved.

Disagreements, however, come at a cost: the time and effort spent to understand something well enough to disagree with it. You cannot really disagree with something you do not understand: because then it is a dislike, not disagreement per se.

How strongly you disagree with something is a function of how well you understand it.

Dislike is a gut feel, uninformed. Disagreement is informed. Dislike is not okay. Disagreement is.

What does it mean to commit?

The commitment that “disagree and commit” demands, therefore, is two-fold:

  • The first commitment is hidden in the act of disagreeing with something: You need to commit to understand something well enough before you decide to disagree. This by definition, includes a commitment to not confuse your dislike for disagreement.

  • The second commitment is towards the decision itself: to quarantine your disagreement and not let it affect your actions: to commit to act in your full professional capacity to contribute to the success of that decision, despite you disagreeing with it.

What “disagree and commit” is not:

“Disagree and commit” cannot be a call to follow orders without fully understanding them.

Rather, it is a call to:

  • Invest time and effort to understand the rationale behind a decision, get over your initial dislike, if any.
  • Decide if you still disagree with it.
  • Regardless of your disagreement, commit to the success of a decision that has already been made. i.e. DO YOUR JOB.