Groupthink is a concept within social psychology (okay so I'm stepping off my anthropology soapbox and borrowing one from my friends at soc-psych) that defines a style of group decision making where individuals are more motivated to agree rather than voice their own, differing opinion.  While it may seem less contentious, it lacks the point of group decision-making, which is the input of a variety of perspectives and opinions.

As a product manager sitting in the center of the organization, your opinion is crucial.  You have a unique perspective - not part of development, marketing, sales, or distribution but at the central hub of them all.  I like to think of the product manager as providing balance.   However, if you are not willing to state your opinion respectfully and clearly, the entire group is denied your valuable insight (I know, sometimes they don't recognize the valuable part).

In an age where consensus and cooperation is the key, it should not be at the cost of the critical discussion and evaluation, needed to examine alternative viewpoints.

Here are three key points that create an environment where group discussion can lead to good decisions and avoid the pitfalls of the dreaded groupthink:

1. The task at hand needs to be the driving force, not social harmony - now is not the time to conform.
2. Leaders need to encourage people to share alternative perspectives - you don't need to protect the leader from contrary views.  If you are the leader, make it known that it's okay for group members to hold a differing opinion.
3. Put procedures in place to ensure that group members critically evaluate all ideas and gather outside feedback where appropriate - don't view outside opinions as inherently inferior.
   

By fostering an environment where differences are welcomed, the team or group can benefit from a multitude of complex viewpoints.  At times, things may get intense but as a product manager, did you really ever think you were going to be immune from conflict?  Not a chance.


"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves"

Paula Gray
the anthropologist

One of the first things we gain in the study of anthropology is the realization that there is both tremendous diversity and similarity in the world. We learn that while all societies share some basic characteristics, their expression can vary greatly. In the recognition, we hope to avoid ethnocentrism or the belief that our own way of seeing the world, (our culture - our own beliefs, values, traditions, language or processes) is superior or more correct than another.

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917) an early influencer in the field of anthropology was also a revolutionary who gave us the concept of cultural relativism. Rather than comparing other cultures (read, tribes) to our own in order to determine the other culture's correctness, Tylor believed that we could view those processes, beliefs, and behaviors objectively without overlaying our own judgment. This was a huge shift from the negative criticism or positive defense of practices, to an objective explanation and analysis of them.

What does all this mean for you the product manager?

You belong to a worldwide tribe of product managers with its own culture, or unique set of processes, beliefs, language, customs, and values. You also belong to a corporate tribe with its own culture, or unique set of processes, beliefs, language, customs and values. You actually belong to many tribes sharing their own cultures but for the purposes of this post, we will focus on the two mentioned.

Much conflict within the workplace, especially in those cross functional teams, stems from a lack of understanding someone else's tribal culture. Often in an interaction or conversation, you measure a person's opinion, suggestion or behaviors against what you think to be "correct." Now, take a step back and ask yourself the questions "is my way really the only way, or could there be some value in something that at first glance seems incorrect to me? Could it be possible that things I believe, say or do seem 'incorrect' to someone else?"

By asking these questions, you are creating a bridge of understanding that will allow you to move between these seemingly conflicting viewpoints. By stepping out of rigid ethnocentrism, you can learn to see situations from a perspective different from your own.

That ability is priceless.

"The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit."  Wade Davis, Anthropologist


Paula Gray
the anthropologist

In my previous post, I made a couple of relatively obvious assertions:

1. We are all tribal.
2. As product managers, it is beneficial if we better understand the professional tribes we rely on.

I also alluded to the observation that one of the consequences of being tribal is a kind of blindness about other tribes. It's what a proper anthropologist (like Paula) would call "ethnocentrism".

Okay, so we are all tribal, and to get better at what we do as product managers, we need to understand other tribes better, but being tribal ourselves, there's a kind of blindness that gets in the way? Yes. All that together. Ouch.

Fortunately for us humans, our brains are fabulously sophisticated and flexible, and are quite capable of operating with multiple points-of-view (not necessarily simultaneously, but at least sequentially). One particularly difficult-to-master but hugely powerful point-of-view is that of self-observation. How does that fit in?

Going "un-native" is the process by which you recognize:

1. You are a member of a tribe.
2. Your membership within a tribe is inherently intertwined with specific jargon, customs, assumptions, habits, behaviors - all of which speak to a specific model of the world.
3. Any tribal model of the world may allow you to operate effectively as a member of the corresponding tribe, but like any model, it also functions as a prejudicial filter.
4. There is inherent value in diminishing the filtering effect of your tribe to better understand the other tribes you rely on, as a first step to more powerful engagement with them.
5. You can diminish the filtering effect of your tribe via self-observation (as a start).

Don't worry, you don't have to be a Zen master to pull this off. I'm betting that if you've survived or thrived as a product manager, you already do this to a certain degree, and instinctively. What I'm proposing is that we ramp this up to something more thoughtful and deliberate.

Does this make sense to you? Can you share workplace experiences that might either amplify or challenge these ideas?

In my next post, I'll get way more practical, and with your help, start defining the toolbox that a product manager can use to apply anthropology to tangible benefit.

Trevor Rotzien
the product manager

Before we attempt to answer that question, an important point: you're already "native". We are all part of one professional tribe or another, whether we are aware of it or not. Our membership in our tribe not only drives relatively innocuous cultural symptoms, such as our workday lingo, but even our model of the world and the people in it, including the other tribes we work with.

So, big deal, we're tribal. Hardly news. And isn't it perfectly natural? Yes. Blinding? Often.

If you came to Product Management via the business side, there was probably a time when you thought business success was about numbers. If you came to Product Management via the technology side, there was probably a time when you thought technology success was about technology. Now, if you've spent anytime as a Product Manager, you'll immediately recognize those ideas as quaint fallacies, and luxuriously naive. However you define your success in this challenging role, I'm certain that achieving it comes down to your interactions with people.

Mastering our interactions with people in the context of our role can be incredibly challenging, and oftentimes we can be afflicted with temporary delusions of competency in this area. Again, not entirely new news. But if it isn't news, then why do many of us invest so little into the deliberate study of the other tribes we rely on?

I'm fascinated by the challenge of professional tribal interactions and what it means in terms of becoming a better Product Manager. I believe, and have experienced, that it is powerful to "go native" with the tribes you need most, and to get beyond the cliches and stereotypes we often attach to them.

So as a complete and utter amateur in social anthropology, but with the encouragement and support of my actual anthropologist co-host (and our future guest bloggers and commentators), I invite you to "go native" to get smarter. What's the first step? Well, going "un-native" from your own tribe first, of course, and beginning to see other professional tribes with eyes less clouded by assumptions and judgment.

How do we start the conversation? In my next post, I'll talk about how non-anthropologist Product Managers such as myself can go "un-native" before attempting to go native.

The Anthropology of Product Management is a hugely rich topic. I hope you'll join Paula and me in an ongoing discussion about how digging into this topic can make us better at what we do.

Trevor Rotzien
the product manager

Product managers are the central hub for products within companies. You deal with tribal dynamics within the organization and ultimately move a product from the company into the hands of the customer.

You need to understand the company culture, the culture of the respective internal departments, the culture of the vendors, the varied cultures of their customers, etc. This is both a huge task and one utilizing a diverse set of skills. Fortunately, cultural anthropology holds the tools that product managers can use to facilitate these processes with ease and grace.

This blog seeks to apply the theories within anthropology to the discipline of product management.

When you were completing your undergraduate degree, you may have taken an anthropology class to fulfill your social science requirements. You probably studied the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert, or the Yanomami of the Amazon. You may have studied primates or early hominids. Anthropology is all of that and much more.

Anthropology offers us the study of language in linguistics, and in cognitive anthropology, the motivations of individuals and groups. We look at how tribes are formed, status and hierarchy within groups, access to resources, symbolism within language, gender issues, taboos, rites of passage, non-verbal communication, and all of these, believe it or not, are going on within your company right now.

Maybe it really is a jungle out there!

In anthropology, we also talk about the emic (insider) and etic (outsider) perspectives. We recognize that, even though we may undertake participant observation, we ultimately are on the outside of the group we study. However, that outsider view can be a very useful analysis tool for understanding internal processes, deeply held but unstated beliefs, taboos, power plays, etc. As the anthropologist half of this duo, and the outsider, I hope to offer you, the product manager, some sound anthropological principals and strategies to help you do your job better.

I am excited to co-host this blog with Trevor, a working product manager who can offer us what only an insider can; the triumphs, tragedies and struggles of working with a cross-functional team of complex humans in order to offer a product to an even larger group of complex humans.

I look forward to future guest bloggers from both the product manager and anthropologist perspectives and I hope you will join the conversation, too.