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The Right Answer Isn't Always the Best Answer

team building Jun 28, 2021

Picture a typical corporate team trying to come up with a strategy or solve a problem. Whose ideas do team members typically like the best? Usually each person thinks he or she has the right answer, but unfortunately, all the others think they have the right answers too.

Conflict brews, decisions don’t get made, and problems don’t get solved because people can’t agree on the right answer.

A collaborative team on the other hand knows that the right answer is not always the best answer. So what is? The best answer is the one that everyone can commit to.

This doesn’t mean that everyone has to agree in a unanimous way. Team members just need to commit. Getting people to commit requires dialogue and an opportunity for all team members to feel their opinions are heard. Getting people to commit is easier when others see their ideas reflected in the solution. Getting people to commit comes faster when people see how the solution benefits them.

So how do you get people to commit to an idea that isn’t necessarily their own?

To influence others to commit to a solution or strategy, you have to take their interests into consideration. What’s needed is a simple, surefire tool for unearthing ideas and concerns in any group or one-on-one setting. That method is the Five Questions.

Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll address these Five Questions and how they’ll get your team to collaboratively work toward shared solutions and goals.