> In a group debate, nobody has to (or even should?) change their minds. It’s okay to have different priorities and think different things are best. Debate is not about admitting fault or changing one’s mind – it’s about informing the rest of the group about which arguments one thinks are salient to the judgment.
This hits at a key problem in dysfunctional companies ... since there is often no clear "right answer" people will do dysfunctional things like delay decision making until there is a clear, unambiguously best choice (which may never happen) or force through their preference because other, better, choices have trade offs.
Back when I was a product manager, no small part of my job seemed to consist of making a decision--ANY decision--so that things could proceed. Often it fairly obviously didn't matter and, even if it somewhat did, there was often no clear way to inform an optimum answer. (Of course, sometimes there was--but it was probably the minority of the time.)
Also, a prompt decision can also get the team to the point where the decision is proven wrong and one of the other decisions correct or, as is often the case, a separate best option becomes obvious.
This hits at a key problem in dysfunctional companies ... since there is often no clear "right answer" people will do dysfunctional things like delay decision making until there is a clear, unambiguously best choice (which may never happen) or force through their preference because other, better, choices have trade offs.