President Roosevelt mantra was “if you have consensus on a major decision don’t make the decision because the homework has not been done.” Drucker said that that there should be conflicting views and these should be evaluated before a decision was made.
Jack Welch would throw everything he could to challenge any new idea making sure the team proposing had done their homework. If they passed this test it was the ‘green light’ from Jack.
Gary Hamel is adamant that organisations and leaders should embrace irregular people as their irregular ideas can be very valuable.
Shackleton engaged the dissidents and avoided needless power struggles. At critical times, he ensured that the dissidents travelled with him rather than letting them pollute the minds of the younger expedition members.
You may wish to read an extract from my Winning Leadership Whitepaper, this paper can be purchased from my website.