Skill: Intelligent Disobedience

Intelligent disobedience refers to the skill of being able to disagree with an organizational decision without jeopardizing one’s career or relationships. The decision may be a mistaken solution strategy or a missed opportunity for the organization. It is important for business analysis professionals to get comfortable with intelligent disobedience because occasionally a BA will see that a proposed solution is not appropriate for the business need. If a solution has been proposed before the root cause of the problem was identified, the solution may be less than optimal. If the BA determines that the proposed solution is not the best, he or she utilizes the skill of intelligent disobedience to bring this problem to the attention of management.

Intelligent disobedience is not difficult. It simply requires three components: (1) get your facts together, (2) present the facts without emotion, and (3) be willing to accept the decision and move forward. One additional component that is very useful is having an alternate plan. These components allow the business analysis professional to communicate the mistaken decision objectively and offer the highest likelihood that the mistake will be corrected.

Some would say that the business analysis professional has an obligation to bring these types of problems to the attention of management. As an employee of or consultant for an organization, a BA is committed to facilitating the best solutions possible for the business. When a BA knows that a proposed solution is not the best, he or she must alert the organization to the mistake. The earlier the problem is identified and addressed, the less costly the mistake to the organization.

Get your facts together, either formally or informally. Use your business case skills to help show management why the proposed solution will not provide a good return on investment or will cost more money than it saves. Be prepared to answer detailed questions about why your argument is correct. Be aware of who originally proposed the solution against which you are arguing. If you can, go to that person directly, one on one, to first discuss the facts that you have discovered. If you can get the person to change his or her mind, the two of you will have an easier time convincing management. Be aware of how much time and money have already been spent on this solution. The more an organization has invested, the more difficult it may be to get the group to change direction. The money already spent is considered “sunk cost” according to accounting principles and should not be factored into any decision going forward, but it is human nature to want to complete the original project and not waste the time and money already spent.

The next person with whom the BA should talk is the project manager. The project manager is a great sounding board for your facts and business case. If you can convince the project manager of your discovery, the two of you can work together to communicate the issue to the project sponsor and senior-level stakeholders. As mentioned earlier, talk with the originator of the idea if possible. Also identify any strong advocates for the solution and work to gain their support for your case. Be persistent in convincing people on your team to recognize the situation. This is bottom-up work in an organization. Use the official (and unofficial) chain of command to communicate your concerns.

Present the facts without emotion because an emotional case will probably not be accepted. Be careful with your choice of words. Don’t say “I don’t feel that this is a good idea.” Don’t give the impression that you dislike the project or don’t want to tackle it. Such impressions will lead your manager to think that you are arguing against the work because you are not willing to do it. Instead, provide very objective, factual statements to show that you have carefully considered the issues and concluded that the solution is not the best. Be prepared to face emotion from the people with whom you are communicating. Members of management may be vested in the idea or may be reluctant to reverse the decision. They may not want to address the issue with their management. Making major changes to project priorities and direction can shake up an organization, and most managers will be reluctant to do this unless they really see a compelling reason.

Should you ever go over a manager’s head to a higher level manager? This would only be recommended in rare cases where the mistaken design will cause great harm to the organization or there is an immediate threat to customers or employees. If you feel strongly about changing the direction of a project, use the same approach with higher level managers. Assemble your facts, present them objectively, and accept the decision. Few will appreciate your behavior, so be sure to be prepared for negative consequences.

Finally, be willing to accept the final decision, no matter what it is. Your responsibility is to alert the organization to a possible waste of resources. If management decides to go ahead anyway, you must be willing to get on board and work on the project enthusiastically. This is extremely important for your long-term credibility. When your organization views you as someone who objectively provides honest opinions and also acts as a team player to get things done, you will be highly valued. Those in management will be more open to your opinions in the future because they will feel confident that you will accept the final decision with grace and commitment. Bob McGannon of Mindavation (www.mindavation.com) has spoken eloquently on the topic of intelligent disobedience.