Mal Fletcher comments

Mal Fletcher

Two stories in the British media this week reflect the importance of healthy dissent in the process of leadership.

This week, the Chilcot Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Britain's entry into the Iraq war featured testimony from several key ministers in the Blair cabinet.

Among them, certainly the most outspoken, was former international development secretary Clare Short.

As I watched part of her testimony, it seemed to me that Ms Short is a person who would find team-work difficult at the best of times, a truly independent spirit who is determined to strike out on her own in most situations. She cannot have been easy to work with in a cabinet arrangement.

That said, her testimony revealed that in the lead up to the war any degree of dissent was unwelcome at the highest level of government.

This, of course, may be understandable once the nation had committed itself. But a culture discouraging dissent apparently continued even while Mr. Blair and others were telling the nation that no firm decisions had yet been made, that open debate was ongoing at the highest levels of government.

On another front, Sir Thomas Legg this week released his long-awaited review into MPs expenses.

He was critical not only of MPs but of the fees authority which failed to challenge expense claims, preferring as he put it to show deference to MPs rather than calling them to account for suspect claims.

It is a fundamental tenet of leadership that dissent is not the same as disloyalty.

In any enterprise, a healthy team culture will be open to voices of disagreement, provided they are motivated not by a desire to destroy or demean but to improve the overall game-plan.

It is always more comfortable for a busy leader, whose time and talents are often stretched to the limit, to hear subordinates and colleagues say 'yes' to his/her wishes and get on with the job. Yet at times a 'no' is healthier, both for the leader and for the organisation - or nation.

When it comes to innovation, resistance is inevitable - people dislike change - but the finest ideas are only strengthened when challenged.

Apparently, this is a principle the scientific community should take on board, too, especially in its efforts to garner public support to tackle climate change.

It was a fear of dissent that led certain key advocates and researchers to hype or shade statistics or projections in favour of their argument.