rotmanmagazine.ca / 25Charlan Jeanne Nemeth is a Professor of Psychology
at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author
of In Defense of Troublemakers: The Power of Dissent in Life
and in Business (Basic Books, 2018).it ABC. The company had shown rapid revenue growth, with a
very efficient sales and marketing model. Luthra was very posi-
tive towards this investment, but as per the firm’s process, he had
to write a contra memo. In it, he laid out arguments for the oppo-
site of his own position. His reasoning included the thesis that the
competition, which in past years had fallen flat, would heat up in
the near future, and that Microsoft, in particular, would be in a
position to dominate the space with its latest release.
Luthra was comfortable with buying ABC because he had
done due diligence: He had downloaded and tried out the com-
petitor products, including Microsoft’s, and was convinced that
ABC’s product was superior. That was a good enough reason to
buy it. However, the contra memo stimulated thinking about
the future and other possibilities. Having found a signpost, the
team decided to check the competition regularly and be especial-
ly vigilant should Microsoft announce a new offering. Luthra and
his team now had a measured position — one subject to change
should certain events arise.
It turns out that Microsoft did later launch an updated ver-
sion of its competing product — and Finchwood’s team was at-
tentive, thanks to the thinking stimulated by its contra-memo
process. They downloaded the new Microsoft product and tested
it rigorously — something they learned that other investors rarely
did. They found it to be much improved, discussed it thoroughly,
and decided that at that point, the risks outweighed the benefits:
They sold ABC, avoiding significant losses.
In the end, Finchwood had an advantage over its peers
because it had signposts generated by thinking that had been
stimulated by a dissenting opinion. To be clear, this process is
not exactly the same as authentic dissent, but it comes close, and
it indicates the type of thinking that more organizations should
be doing.
In closing
Consensus, while comforting and harmonious, often leads us
to bad decisions. Authentic dissent is not about being rude or dis-
respectful. It’s about speaking up when you have a position that
you believe to be true. More of us need to applaud dissent — not
only for the truth it may hold, but for its impact on the way we
think. Even when the dissenter is wrong, dissent makes us more
open to learning, growing, and changing.
We often concentrate on the vulnerabilities of being the
one to challenge the majority, and those vulnerabilities are real
— but so is the power of a dissenting voice speaking with convic-
tion, courage, and authenticity. And today, I think most readers
would agree that we need dissent — possibly more than ever.