Only insecure leaders demand agreement all the time.

Smart organizations such as BridgeWater, a multi-billion Dollar Hedge Fund, and leaders like Ray Dalio, don’t allow the status quo and mediocrity to imprison them.

Rather, they create and nurture a corporate culture that intentionally incentivizes organized disagreement.

BridgeWater has a Radical Transparency corporate culture where providing feedback is the norm, not rarity.

Such organizations and leaders encourage their people to share their thoughts even if it means disagreeing with the leadership and what is the norm.

Everyone including the top leadership eagerly seek feedback from anyone in the organization.

As a result, everyone on the team and in the organization feels:

• Heard,
• Appreciated, and
• Respected.

Because of such a robust and vibrant culture, they unleash their full potential, create, and innovate, making such a robust culture a win-win for all parties…

By the way, some Ivy League universities in the US have studied the company’s corporate culture to understand how the culture was built and sustained.

Many companies attempted to copy and paste Bridgewater’s culture.

Unfortunately, few succeeded.

Many failed because they could not create a safe and productive environment where inhabitants of the culture engage in ORGANIZED disagreements to challenge the status quo, question mediocre ideas, and so on without feeling unsafe.

One of the reasons they struggled to configure such a culture was because they didn’t put the necessary ground rules to combat DISORGANIZED agreement.

As a result, they ended up having a toxic environment where few members belittle, undermine, or dominate others in the name of disagreement…

Watch the two less-than-60-second video clips to gain some context…

Once you have watched the videos, answer these questions:

1. If you’re a leader of your team, organization, or community, do you excel in providing feedback?
2. Do you ‘beg’ for feedback, and when you get feedback, do you receive it gracefully?
3. Have you created a vibrant pro feedback culture?
4. What are some of the ground rules you put in place to create a vibrant and safe environment?
5. How are you empowering your people to excel in giving and receiving feedback well?
6. How do you nurture and sustain the culture?