NESS LABS CURIOSITY BEFORE CONSENSUS

 “Instead of asking,

 “Can we agree on this?”, the group asks, 

“What don’t we know yet?” 

Switching from consensus to curiosity changes our relationship with uncertainty, especially when it’s paired with experimentation.

If two people suggest competing solutions, you don’t need another hour of debate. 

Ask what evidence would help decide between them, then design a tiny experiment to gather that evidence. 

Show an unfinished prototype to five customers. 

Try a new process with three teams. 

Change one part of the onboarding experience for one week.

This is the distinction I find useful:

• Collective curiosity increases the amount of information a group can use;
• Experimentation increases the quality of the evidence the group can use; then only…
• Consensus increases the group’s ability to coordinate action based on that evidence.

All three are important, but we shouldn’t use them in the wrong order, and consensus should never be a substitute for the messy process of experimenting to figure out our next steps.”

INVESTIGATE 
PAY ATTENTION 
INSPIRE NOT MANIPULATE 
ASK BETTER QUESTIONS 
DISMISS THE STUCK UPS
DISCERNMENT 
@CHEEK MEDIA 
NESS LABS 
HONI SOIT
C 1983