What Do You Think? The Question That Changed a Board Decision

Early in my career I sat in a boardroom with more than fifteen people deciding whether a property we owned should offer free public Wi-Fi.

I was the youngest person there by at least twenty years. I was one of two women. And the room was about to make the wrong call.

The decision

The consensus formed fast: public Wi-Fi was a waste of money and time. Nobody would use it. It wasn’t worth the cost.

I disagreed, strongly, and I said nothing. Not because I didn’t have a view. Because I was the youngest person in a room full of people who had been doing this for decades, and nobody had asked.

The question that changed it

To his credit, the executive running the meeting noticed. He looked at me and asked, “What do you think?”

So I told him. People my age connect to public Wi-Fi because not everyone can afford unlimited data, and those are exactly the people you want at the property. Wi-Fi gives them a reason to stay longer, and people who stay longer spend more. And the property sat in an area known for its technology sector. Not offering Wi-Fi there would have looked strange to the very customers we were trying to attract.

He agreed. We added the Wi-Fi.

What actually made the difference

The room had some diversity in it. That wasn’t what changed the outcome. What changed it was one leader asking the person least likely to speak.

A diverse team that defers to the most senior voice makes the same decisions as a team with no diversity at all. You pay for the perspectives and never use them.

The fix is not complicated:

• Ask the quietest person first. Once the senior people have spoken, the room has already decided.
• Ask about the customer you don’t have. The people who aren’t in the room are usually the customers you’re missing.
• Treat disagreement as information. A dissent that costs you two minutes in a meeting is far cheaper than a decision that costs you a market.

Diversity is the right thing to do. It is also better decision-making, and better decisions make money. But only if someone asks.