Who Disagrees With You?
I was scrolling on Instagram the other day and a clip popped up from Ed Catmull, one of the co-founders of Pixar. He was telling a story about Steve Jobs firing two board members because they never disagreed with him. They just nodded along. And Jobs basically said, what's the point of having you here if you think exactly like I do? He wanted people at the table who would push back, poke holes, and birth new thinking he couldn't get to on his own.
I bring this up because it made me ask myself a simple question, and I want to ask you the same one. Do you have anyone in your life who actually disagrees with you?
I'm not talking about the person who picks a fight just to hear themselves talk. I mean someone who genuinely sees it differently and cares enough to tell you. Because here's the thing I keep learning the hard way. If you keep your circle small and never wander outside of it, your thinking never changes either. You just keep marinating in the same ideas, the same blind spots, the same tide. And you start to mistake comfort for clarity.
So what do you do if you don't have that person yet? A couple of simple swings you can take today. Read books outside your lane. Listen to podcasts from people who don't share your assumptions. That's the cheap and easy way to invite a little disagreement into your head without needing anyone to sit across the table from you.
But if you're leading an organization, I think you have to go further than that. You need someone on your board or your team who you already know is going to think differently. And honestly, that person doesn't always have to live inside your walls. Sometimes it's someone you borrow. Run an idea past them and let them swing at it. Consultants can be great for this. Just remember you still have to filter what they say back through your own lens, because people outside your organization won't know your full context. That's actually the gift though. They can poke holes and spark ideas that the folks inside the building can't, because they aren't getting carried along by the tide of your culture.
So go find your person. Or at least go borrow one. Your thinking will be better for it.
Extra Resources:
Read “Expanding Your Reality”
Check out Ed’s book “Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration”
I’m game to partner with you, maybe to be a voice you use to borrow to process ideas
