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It’s hard to take a stand these days. Everything gets recorded easily and, as the old movies would say, everything “can and will be used against you in the court of law”. Whilst we don’t spend our lives in real “Law and Order” courts of law, the law of what others may think does the trick. Most importantly, the law of our mind and our values acts as a keen judge for when we make a stand too harshly or for when we fail to make one at all. What if we step off the mark? What if we can’t take it back?
React or not react
Last week, my trigger was the attempt to force Nova SBE to revert to its Portuguese name in all national or mixed communications. I spotted the news early and immediately sought to find out what the implications would be. As people started reacting vehemently across social media and traditional media outlets, I debated my next step. As President of the Alumni network of Nova SBE, what was the “right” thing to do?
As emotions spiked, I chose to move in support of the generalised notion that this was an attack on Nova SBE’s well-deserved success, even though the discussion focused on the name (petition here). But this was, for me, about more than the name. It was about reining in power and about taming the independence of an institution we can all be proud of.
I started asking for more data. I knew I wanted and had to be more vocal about this, but I also knew the dangers of only listening to your own echo chambers. I knew I wanted to be armed with reason and data, but I also know how that can quickly backfire.
At the end of the day, I decided I did indeed want to make a stand, but one that was grounded on my values rather than on my emotions.
A debate is not a war
A fun part of the Critical Thinking Workshop I developed for Nova SBE CEMS students (in English, naturally) last year is a section about interpersonal rethinking. That means, how do you harness the ability to disagree and debate without it all feeling like a war? Given that I am due to be teaching the workshop for a second time soon, I thought I would bring up some of my own teachings to model my reaction. That meant I had to watch out to stop myself from being a logic bully:
- I stopped myself from going all out with the data to support why this was a ridiculous idea (unusual).
- I stopped myself from piling up arguments about why the dean in question is doing it, avoiding judgments of value or character (hard)
- I stopped myself from trying to convince every soul or being offended by those who might have had different perspectives. This was not personal. (innovative)
The loss of our ability to discuss differing points of view in something as arguably small as the name of a University is but a syndrome that we need to work on these skills.
Speed of Reaction
As I geared up to make a stand, I read all the different articles I could find on the matter. Deciding on how fast to react is tricky. I tend to write very little about current news, and much prefer to focus on structural issues that can have an impact on how we live our lives and lead our businesses.
In this case, however, something was itching for me to react. And it was not just the fact that I support the Alumni Network. I had a visceral reaction to a bureaucratic decision impacting a well-designed strategy and pulling back what I felt was a success case and a reason for pride for Portugal. And whilst gut instinct is an important part of how we operate, again I went back to my own teachings and slowed down my reaction.
The benefit of slowing down is that we can activate our “System 2” thinking and be more analytical about our answers. It is the right system to activate if we want to be willing to question assumptions and be open to debate.
Willingness to question
As I slowed down, I was able to be less emotional and be open to questions. It has not changed my mind, but hopefully it has alerted me to dissenting opinions and stripped me of a blind bias towards attacking the other side. As such, I adopted the stance of a “dancer” in a debate, asking questions from others and myself:
- What is the intention of this small action? What is it really trying to get at?
- What are the arguments for and against each point of view?
- What data would support or counter each point of view?
These questions have allowed me to remain in my thinking zone and away from the first gut reactions of “here we go again, bashing down success!” I felt quite mature. It must be my 40s.
Finding common ground
Ultimately, I like to believe (though I could be wrong) that we are mostly in agreement with some of the deep values underlying this discussion. It is just how we view or express them that can differ. In any debate, finding common ground is a key part of making progress in reaching understanding or bringing the other side just one bit away from the extreme.
- Nationalism can mean staying focused on our language for some and going international and expanding our brand for others.
- Autonomy can mean free rein for some and the ability to operate freely within guardrails for others.
- Progress can mean bringing more people up the inequality ladder internally for some and bringing more international talent to the country for others.
- Success can mean quietly doing your thing and being awesome at it, or going all out and getting awesome rankings for others
It is through finding the commonality of what we value that we may be able to engage in real solutions. The name matters, but it is the understanding of the impact it can have and what it can lead to beyond a change in name that truly is at the heart of the discussion.
A debate worth having
This is a debate worth having. I am roughly a year into my “presidency” and one of the challenges we have is how to best engage Alumni and how to ensure we keep this network connected. Seeing people rise up and take a stand about this has been confirmation that people care about this network, whether they were for or against the name change. And that people are still willing to take stands in today’s day and age.
My job in this role is to keep informed, listen to all views and understand the impact on the school I am trying to support. My job as an authentic person is to be willing to debate and take a stand. Holding convictions that are true to my values, but not closing the door to dialogue.
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