In previous roles, Julia Whitney led teams at WGBH and the BBC, so she’s familiar with rooms full of people in meetings where decisions not only don’t get made, they’re sometimes actively avoided. Now an executive and leadership coach, she’s devoted a lot of time over the last few years to working with teams on making sure that they both make decisions – and that they make the best quality decisions possible.
Quote of the Episode
If you can really get all of the potential out of (group decision making), there’s nothing better, it makes for the best quality decisions. And it makes for the most resiliant and resourceful teams at the same time.
Listen if you’d like to learn more about
- Making decisions
- Managing groups
- Good communication
Links mentioned in this episode
- Follow Julia LinkedIn
- Julia at Leading Design London, talking about 6 common group dynamics that get in the way of good group decision making
- A quick overview of the work of psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion, who was an early pioneer in the study of group dynamics and group processes
- A study which explores how important it is for everyone in your team to feel individually accountable for the group’s decisions: Managing Group Decision Making Processes: Individual vs. Collective Accountability and Groupthink
- Leadership expert Patrick Lencioni describing “the conflict continuum,” from artificial harmony to mean-spirited personal attacks, and how healthy conflict in your team is a good thing:
- A visual from the Harvard Business Review about Common Biases that Affect Business Decisions
- The Thick of It and W1A shows
Hosts
The Product Experience is hosted by Lily Smith and Randy Silver.
Lily enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. Lily has spent 13 years in the tech industry working mainly with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She has worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank in Bristol, the Product Managers’ meetup with regular events and talks on Product now with 800+ members and growing. Now the Head of Innovation at Go Compare, Lily also runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy has been working as an interactive producer and product manager across the US and UK for nearly 20 years. After launching Amazon’s music stores in the US and UK, Randy has worked with museums and arts groups, online education, media and entertainment, retail and financial services. He’s held Head of Product roles at HSBC and Sainsbury’s, where he also directed their 100+-person product community. His book, What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19 is available now, with all profits going to COVID-19 relief efforts.
Music
Our theme music is from Hamburg-based Pau, featuring ProductTank Hamburg’s own Arne Kittler on bass. Listen to more on their Facebook page
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