"Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit"

At Vendasta we have a set of leadership principles.? One of the most discussed is a principle that many have shortened to? “disagree and commit”.??

This shortening does a disservice to the principle and can be interpreted as “shut up and do what you are told.” which is diametrically opposite of the intent.?

Here is the Vendasta principle as it is written:?

“Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit. Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.”

Let's deconstruct this:? “ Have backbone”.? Having a backbone is hard. ? Respectfully challenging decisions you don’t agree with is hard work, uncomfortable and exhausting. You can’t just say “ I disagree”, you have to make the case with facts, logic and passion and offer an alternative.?

At Vendasta leaders have an obligation to speak up if they disagree. It can be all too easy to agree for the sake of “social cohesion”.? Leaders have a professional obligation to make their arguments heard. It is very likely they have information others have not considered.? They need to use this information and data to make their logic and reasoning clear and propose an alternative decision.?

The worst thing a leader can do is internally disagree with a decision, stay quiet, and then passive aggressively fight the decision and later say “I told you so”. There is nothing that will diminish a leader's status or have them removed from the team faster than this.?

One also needs to recognize that not every decision will go your way.? At Vendasta we expect our leaders to use a believability-weighted idea of meritocracy for making effective decisions.??

What this means is our leaders consider all arguments but put more weight on the ideas and decisions from people that have experience in the subject matter area, have been consistently right in the past, and are in alignment with our top level principles.

Once a decision is made we expect everyone to get behind it and execute against the decision as if it were their own.? If a decision proves to be right or wrong there is no recrimination or “I told you so’s” there is only the acknowledgement and recording of the correctness or incorrectness of the decision for future believability weighting.?

As a CEO I experience this principle first hand with our board.? Vendasta’s board of directors have a wealth of experience and they often propose direction for the company.? Generally I am in agreement but there are times when I am not.? In these times I do my best to relay my difference of opinion and lay out my case with data, logic and passion. ? It can be exhausting but it is my obligation to the company.? ? Almost always we come to a common understanding and way forward.?

When the decision is not one I agree with I put my opinions to the side and get behind the decision that has been made.? That decision becomes my own. I become accountable and responsible.? I will never say “the board made me do it” and obviate my obligation and responsibility.??

In the future if someone says “disagree and commit” remember it is “have a backbone” first, and be prepared to do the work.?

“Once you identify a problem, don’t tolerate it. Tolerating a problem has the same consequences as failing to identify it. Whether you tolerate it because you believe it cannot be solved, because you don’t care enough to solve it, or because you can’t muster enough of whatever it takes to solve it, if you don’t have the will to succeed, then your situation is hopeless. You need to develop a fierce intolerance of badness of any kind, regardless of its severity.”

— Ray Dalio