What is “Intelligent Disobedience?”

“Intelligent disobedience” DOES mean being “different” – with specific purposes. PMs should not behave counter to processes, or ruffle feathers without a specific intent and goal for doing so. Effectively applied however, acting or behaving differently than is expected can yield significant results. “Intelligent disobedience” involves using skills pivotal to “seeing-eye” and other assistance dogs. All dogs must go through training prior to being certified as assistance dogs, and only those with “intelligent disobedience” capabilities pass muster and become certified. It is the dogs that know when to “disobey their masters”, such as refusing to cross the street when a car is coming, that succeed in becoming seeing-eye dogs. Can you imagine a seeing-eye dog that didn’t possess “intelligent disobedience”; venturing into the street because its master commanded him to do so, despite the oncoming car?

Can you imagine a PM diligently pressing forward with a project or a development approach that he knew would fail or be contradictory to organizational objectives? Although the seeing-eye dog story has a more fearful outcome; the project managers pressing forward towards failure occurs with far too great a frequency.

For PMs, “intelligent disobedience” is knowing when and how to depart from the norm in opinions, cultural standards, and processes. “Intelligent disobedience” means understanding the politics of an organization and maneuvering around the “land mines” that can diminish the project and its value to the organization. “Intelligent disobedience” means having strong beliefs in the project objectives and the sponsoring organization. “Intelligent disobedience” means taking the leadership responsibilities of a PM very seriously. It means having courage, fortitude and being determined to do right for your team, yourself and the organization. “Intelligent disobedience” is tough. It also is vital to ensuring the alignment of projects with organizational objectives, especially in today’s business climate.

Why Use “Intelligent Disobedience”?

In the February 2003 issue of T+D Magazine, Patricia A. McLagan says “If you want to shut down an organization, the best way is for people to stop working. The second best way is for everyone to just follow the rules.” This theory has been proven many times. For example, instances where police officers protest by enforcing every law fully results in huge numbers of jaywalking arrests and other offences; effectively “shutting down” their town.

The presence of standard processes does help in creating consistency across the organization and aids in effective communication. However, standard processes aren’t perfect. The processes’ authors do not have the capability of predicting future conditions with perfect clarity. This will have a bearing on the process’ usability as the environment changes. Conditions will inevitably arise where standard processes, common sense and principle do not converge. These are just the sort of instances where the PM must invoke “intelligent disobedience” and divert from standard process.

Warren Buffett, the highly successful financier, was discussing his role as an independent director in the March 22, 2003 issue of Business Week magazine when he said “Too often I was silent when management made proposals that I judged to be counter to the interests of shareholders…collegiality trumped independence.” Clearly, he wasn’t engaging in “intelligent disobedience” and believes he should have been. PMs who reflect on past experiences and realize they should have engaged in “intelligent disobedience” should know they are in good company!

continue »