The Art of Disagree and Commit is crap without follow up

I don't like the way most people try to use Disagree and Commit. It can be used as a tool to close (and win) a conversation, rather than as a tool for collaboration and learning.

Much like 'actual' agile, "Disagree and Commit" doesn't really work until you have a follow-up.

But here’s the catch: without follow-up, it’s like planting seeds and forgetting to water them. I’ve seen people get clobbered with the "let's disagree and commit" or "our company prides itself of disagree and commit". Ok, sure... but do you ever give the person who disagreed a chance? Do you ever follow up to see if what you committed to was a good decision? Did you adjust your approach or principles for future disagreements, so that you can make better decisions in the future?

Not from what I have seen...

When teams “disagree and commit,” they often treat it as the finish line. Decision made, full steam ahead! But the truth is, it’s a checkpoint, not the end goal.

Without follow-up, you’re risking: → Blind execution with no reflection → Wasted time chasing the wrong outcomes → Missed lessons that could’ve made future decisions smarter → A roadblock from any new data helping to change course

Here’s the fix: allow for follow-ups within the process. Set a realistic date to reassess and ask the hard questions: ? Was this decision the right one? ? What new information do we have now? ? How do we pivot or improve next time?

It is important to ask these questions in a blameless-retrospective style, because one of the foundations of Disagree and Commit is that "we're all in this decision together." Once you D&C you don't get to point fingers at whoever came up with the idea, it is now everyone's idea and we're all responsible for it's success and failures.

Healthy dissent sparks innovation. But innovation doesn’t thrive in chaos. It needs some structure—follow-ups, reflection, iteration. Without these, it’s easy to end up rowing hard... in the wrong direction.

Photo Note: I asked chatgpt for "a picture that reflects "The Chaos of decisions" and "being pulled in many directions" in a artistic style" - poor grammer and all.