Consensus is Killing Your Product (PWW #15)

A few weeks ago I attended one of the regular Product Pros meet-up hosted by BlueHeads. I spent a lovely summer evening in Amsterdam with about a dozen other experienced product managers from all types of organisations and backgrounds. It was amazing to speak to such a diverse group who are all into product management.

I have noticed that these kind of events often leave me with a slightly altered perspective. And this night was no different. One particular lightbulb moment stood out and has stayed with me for several weeks now.

It started during one of the many in-depth roundtable discussions. We landed on the question of "what is a particular product management challenge that is specific to Dutch companies?". Super interesting for me to hear other peoples perspective on this. And while we were sharing experiences something actually clicked in my brain.

Dutch companies frequently get bogged down in consensus building

And this makes sense. The Dutch have pretty much invented consensus building (or "polderen" as we call it). Building consensus before making any decisions is in our DNA. You can see this in politics (we have 16 political parties in parliament), but also at the dinner table (children have a voice in decisions like moving or taking a trip). And most companies are not immune to this either...

Obviously the Dutch do not own the patent to consensus building. I have experienced plenty of international organisations that also struggle to balance moving forward with building consensus amongst colleagues. But the Dutch seem to stand out in their reliance on consensus before doing anything at all.

What is consensus building?

But let's take one step back and define what consensus building is first. There are plenty of dictionary-like definitions floating around, but I found that Harvard Law School had one of the best:

"Consensus building is a process involving a good-faith effort to meet the interests of all stakeholders and seek a unanimous agreement. A consensus building approach allows groups to reach an overwhelming agreement among relevant stakeholders and maximize possible gains to everyone."

I can almost guarantee that you are spending some portion of your time every week doing exactly this. And that is actually a good thing! Because the opposite of making decisions through consensus building is... dictatorship!

I am not against consensus. When treated like the definition above, it can be a great thing. However, consensus building comes with so many pitfalls that it can just as easily kill your entire product or organisation.

👍 Why you SHOULD build consensus in product management

Let's start on the positive side and make the case for why you should use consensus building as a product manager or product owner.

You are likely working with a lot of different stakeholders, who are all human beings (until the AI singularity hits of course). And human beings are inherently illogical. For example: they might oppose an objectively good idea, simply because they were not the ones who thought of it.

Instead of judging an idea on it's merits, it get's judged on who the messenger is. Combine this with an inherent want to gather more power and what you get is office politics... Politics are probably the biggest roadblock keeping many companies from real success. Yet it's not going to go away any time soon, at least not while humans are still calling the shots.

Consensus building can be a great weapon to overcome politics. It's extremely productive when you get your stakeholders on the same page, working towards a singular goal. Obstacles suddenly disappear, and progress is made.

You'll find that people are way more likely to actively contribute to a project when they are in consensus and are aligned with the goal of that project.

👎 Why you SHOULD NOT build consensus in product management

So if you've read the previous section you might wonder: "Why are you cautioning against consensus building? It sounds pretty great so far!". Let me tell you...

Trying to build consensus can become an all-consuming mission impossible if you're not careful. You have to realise: you will not be able to get to consensus every time. Sometimes people will, for whatever reason, not want to agree with you. And that's fine. You should try to build consensus, but if it's proving to be impossible: stop trying.

At some point you have to move forward. You are trying to build a great product. That requires one thing above all else: ACTION. Sitting still debating has never built a great product. Do you think the iPhone would ever have seen the light of day if Steve Jobs had tried building consensus across all departments and teams? Hell no!

As a product manager you have a responsibility to the organisation to build a great product that customers want to buy and use. There is often an innovation angle to this. You might be building a product that doesn't exist in the market yet. Or trying to disrupt an existing industry by doing things differently. You cannot be chasing consensus and trying to innovate at the same time. Because consensus says: "the existing solutions in the market are good enough".

You need to be able to navigate both consensus seeking, and leading the way. This can be a delicate balance, and there is no single best approach. But you have to do both. If you're stuck seeking consensus, nothing will get done. And if you act like a dictator without building any consensus, you will alienate everyone around you and cut your career short.

Two types of consensus

So far I've been talking about consensus as if it's a black and white thing. But as a product manager you will find there are two distinct types of consensus. One is very useful and helps propel you forward, the second is like a boggy swamp trying to pull you back.

The good type is consensus on the HOW. The bad type is consensus on the WHAT. This refers to Simon Sineks' Golden Circle (Why, How, What) model. If you're not familiar with that, you should absolutely check it out.

The good kind: "HOW" consensus

It is very useful to find consensus in the process of how to get from point A to point B. For example: agreeing on roles and responsibilities amongst stakeholders, agreeing on a product management process, and agreeing on who ultimately makes decisions in a project.

These are all key enablers to move forward. It should be crystal clear who actually has final decision making powers, and who is merely being consulted. Building consensus amongst your stakeholders on this is critical. The red flag here is if multiple stakeholders feel like they are empowered to make decisions, even though they really are not. This can make life impossible for you.

The bad kind: "WHAT" consensus

The potentially bad type of consensus focuses on the what. For example: what features we should build to solve a problem, user interface designs or micro copy.

As a product manager it's extremely common to deal with stakeholders that want/feel entitled to dive into the minute details of what you're building. They might have opinions on designs, thoughts on what features are most important, et cetera.

This is actually an area where you should not try to build consensus. You and your team are most likely the experts in building great products. So there is really no point in taking direction from someone without that experience. You can (and should) consult as many people as you can, but their input should be seen as feedback, not marching orders.

In my experience product managers are particularly susceptible to becoming trapped in seeking "WHAT" consensus. You'll often deal with stakeholders that feel entitled to an opinion on your team's work. Or worse: feel entitled to "sign off" on your work. As soon as you give them that power, you have lost the ability to meaningfully innovate.

How to build consensus the right way?

A few pieces of advice to any PM/PO that is facing challenges building consensus:

• Be very mindful of the type of consensus you are trying to build (HOW or WHAT). Focus on the HOW and try to keep consensus building away from the WHAT.
• Do not confuse "building consensus" with "getting approval". Sometimes these can feel like the same thing but they absolutely are not! Consensus building only works when you treat your stakeholders as equals, not as superiors.
• Don't be afraid to make an unpopular decision. Sometimes this is necessary to keep things moving. It's better to make a wrong decision than making no decision at all.