My second career job was at McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy, where I was a communication specialist. My job was pretty much guiding our teams on how to communicate hard recommendations to clients (”lay off 4000 workers”) and helping clients figure out how to do their own communication.
About a month into my job, I was invited by a senior partner in the firm to attend a meeting. Agenda: how do we best communicate to the client that the client should buy the “Acme Company”, but not at a price over “X”.
Young tyro that I was, I gave a wordy, lengthy answer about how to do it, replete with “On the one hand, we could say this… on the other hand, we could say this…”
The glares showed it: I was suddenly radioactive.
A kind soul (she now runs global engineering firm) took me aside that day and gave me this advice: “You were all in favor of option A, but you presented option B because you thought you needed ‘balance’… and now no one believes you. And you offered no facts to back up either stance, and in our culture, facts count. Both sides can’t stand you. The only reason you won’t get fired is because you are so new.”
Tough words.
I later learned to love McKinsey precisely because outspokeness backed by facts was appreciated. I learned to feel free to speak up to senior partners, men and women with enormous business experience, when I felt I was right, and had the facts to back me. I learned to say to people who could fire me with a flick of a finger “That’s the wrong argument, and here’s why…”. As long as I had a competently constructed “why”, I was safe.
I bring this up because I read so many of the comments and posts by you Auburn students. Many are in the “on the one hand… on the other hand” vein. “John raises an important point…. but Sue’s idea is worth looking at….”
Facts are rarely presented…it’s usually “I think” or “I believe”. But since a) one can’t be of two minds and b) one must have some sort of facts to back up an opinion, these sort of posts leave me thinking the writer may not have an opinion. Or that he or she is certainly not brave enough to say what their opinion is. And do I want that sort of person to run my PR? Or be a part of my agency?
Some companies will fire you for saying what you think. Some will fire you for not saying what you think. Which would you rather work for?
14 comments
4/3/2006 at 3:39 pm
Lara
After reading your post, I realized that I am probably one of those students who has made a “on the one hand, and on the other hand” comment. I think a lot of these types of comments are posted this way for security. It gives you a chance to support both sides and offer a choice. I would call it having an opinion without really having an opinion, or playing it safe. It is also a lack of confidence.
I recently read a post by Dee Rambeau entitled “A Crisis of Inertia” about PR practitioners lacking respect in the business world. He mentions that we should respect ourselves before we will gain respect from others. I think having a “on the one hand, and on the other hand” could be responsible for some of the lack of respect. If you have “don’t have an opinion” when presenting to your public, you have broken one of the cardinal rules of PR to have “one voice” and to do it with clarity.
Also, in Dee’s post he referenced a post by Tom Foremski that is about self-esteem. Self-esteem is one of the reasons for “having an opinion, without having an opinon” because it gives you this security I mentioned earlier. It gives you a chance to be partial without being partial, and if your client doesn’t like the idea you present, well you’ve got a back-up.
So, all in all thank you for this great advice. It is easy to fall back on these types of responses when dealing with major decisions, I know I am guilty of it, but after reading this I can see the negative side of doing this.
4/3/2006 at 4:09 pm
Jess
Well, well, well…as I read your post, I knew exactly what you were talking about. And when you mentioned the Auburn students, it was confirmed that I also knew WHO you were talking about! Most of us Auburn “kids” probably appear to have a “don’t have an opinion” attitude in our blog posts and comments. I have three reasons why I think we, as Auburn students, try to portray an unbiased opinion:
1. We are new to blogging. This semester is the first time for many of us to blog. With that said, we are still learning the roads to successful blogging. I can assure you that posts such as yours are very beneficial in the learning process. Sometimes it takes someone to point out your flaws for you to know that they exist!
2. With all of the scary stories of people not getting hired because of things they said on Facebook, MySpace, and other websites, we are probably trying to play it safe. We are interacting on a weekly basis with PR “bigwigs” and we might eventually be applying to intern or work for one of you guys. Having an unbiased opinion is our idea of “playing it safe.”
3. You guys are intimidating!! It has taken me a while to open up and comment on your blogs with a very personal and sincere reply because I think that you guys are looking for a text book comment. Most of your posts are so well-thought and intellectual sounding, and we want to sound intellectual as well, which is why we agree with you guys…a.k.a. the PR geniuses!!
Okay…so there are my three reasons why I think the Auburn students don’t have definite opinions just quite yet. Similar to your answer at your secong job, we are young and still learning the ropes. Our blogs are great practice tools for our first job and hopefully we will have the hang of it by graduation in MAY!!!
4/3/2006 at 8:30 pm
Ashley Imsand
Ha… I thought it was actually refreshing to hear the criticism. After all, we’re students and we’re learning, and this is now one thing we can add to a list of stuff to work on before it comes to being fired from a job. So thank you.
My question is where is the balance? I have watched and despised the people in this world who seem to have an opinion about everything, without even knowing anything about the subject. People are duped by those who can make it sound like they know what they’re talking about, while some more quiet and cautious people perhaps would end up making a better decision after weighing a few options, but couldn’t come up with the flashy and definitive way of presenting their opinions at the time. So what do you do to balance the two?
There’s a need to not seem too cocky if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, but how do you present yourself as capable of making good decisions quickly and confidentlly that the everyday business environment demands?
4/3/2006 at 10:52 pm
Lindsey
So honestly, I am now a little scared to post because I may not give my opinion directly and not even realize it! I am sure that I am one of those people that says “on the one hand, but on the other…”. But I agree with Jess that it is hard for us to simply state our opinion and be done with it. We are scared, young students who are learning from powerful PR professionals. I know in my blog I tend to talk about things that I have experienced and relate them to PR and how I see it, but it is nothing controversial.
I am very worried that I will say something wrong and someone will track it down. Blogs are very public things and I am aware of the impact of them. It is just like the Facebook or MySpace. You cannot put any incriminating information or pictures and expect it to be kept private. Employers are now looking at these sites to see exactly what potential and current employees are really like. So sharing your opinion on the internet is something that needs to be closely watched and guarded.
4/3/2006 at 11:39 pm
Courtney
Opinions and confidence to share those opinions are built through time and experience. Success gives you confidence for the future and knowledge that you would never be able to gain from books. I can speak only for myself when I say that I am lacking skills in this area. Voicing our opinion is not something that we are accustomed to in a classroom environment, so expressing our opinion has become the “uncomfortable” and “unnatural” thing to do. The system rewards “yes men” and “yes women” with “A’s.” It happens every day, students will tell professors what they want to hear in order to get a satisfactory grade.
To our benefit, many of you all hold us at a higher standard than some of our professors. “Tough words” typically means that they are true. We don’t get those too often. Without a doubt, there will be plenty of them to go around once we enter the work force. It’s much more helpful to hear them now, from ya’ll.
When you know your facts, it shouldn’t be difficult to take a stand on an issue. Whether it is knowing what is best for your client or knowing what is unethical in the PR industry, facts give a position credibility and legs on which to stand.
What good is an opinion if you don’t share it?
4/4/2006 at 12:14 pm
Emily Melton
Thank you for the post. I couldn’t agree with you more. In my brief professional experience, I have found that opinions are respected. Well, let me clarify myself. Opinions backed my facts are respected.
“Going with the flow� is good with all of your friends when deciding to go to dinner or something, but in a professional environment, you’ve suddenly lost your backbone. When you give that up, you’ve also lost your status as an opinion leader. There is a fine line between compromising and sacrificing your stance on a situation. This can sometimes be an issue in ethically questionable situations.
People want to have strong personalities on their workforce. If you can’t give something to a company or even worse, if you can, but you are afraid to, that’s a bad sign.
4/4/2006 at 4:16 pm
Melanie
Funny to notice that students are the ones who often sound like we’re on the fence when it comes to posting opinions as blog posts and comments…and the most obvious reason for this (and what could become a problem if we carry this habit over into the professional world) is lack of experience.
Students don’t want to jump into a situation sounding like know-it-alls who have been working in the field for years and have firsthand experience to back up their opinions. And I agree that we need to get over this and have confidence in our own abilities as well as knowing how to constructively state the “and this is why” part you spoke about.
However, I think there could be a second reason for this “on the one hand, on the other hand” issue: we’re still in a student frame of mind. We have had the theories of rhetoric pounded into our heads over and over during the past four years in just about every communication class. The key way to establish credibility in any paper or speech is to address both sides of an issue and then prove why your way is the best. I guess this is just another way that the classroom differs from reality.
4/4/2006 at 8:42 pm
Monica Tuerk
Along with Ashley…thank you for the criticism. We are all still learning, and (only speaking on my behalf) I appreciate any help and/or advice I can get.
With regards to your blog, many of us fall victim to using the “on one hand…one the other hand” crutch because often times in school we are thought show both sides of the argument. Unless we are doing a straight-forward persuasive speech or paper, I have encountered a few professors who have taught to show the reader both sides of the argument, so the reader can form his/her own opinion. I am in complete agreement with you, in that it is not the best or most productive way of presenting an opinion, and yes, it does make the presenter seem that he/she is unsure of him/herself. Personally, I know that I fall victim to presenting two sides or options to an opinion, simply out of habit. I appreciate you bringing this flaw to our attention.
On the subject of us falling victim to using “I think” or “I believe,” I often times have to stop myself of saying this statement. One thing middle/high school teachers and college professors could do more of, is teach students how to have an opinion and to stand strong behind it. We are taught early on, that it is ok to use these phrases at the beginning of a thought, and then we get to college and are all the sudden confronted by the fact that if we use these phrases we loose half our credibility. But half the problem is that we never learned how to form our own opinion and stand confidently behind it. It is a learning process, and the more I continue to write, the more confident I get with my opinions.
4/5/2006 at 2:38 pm
Allan Jenkins
Lots of comments… and I thought you all were on break.
I’ll throw out a few notes.
1) “on the one hand, and on the other hand” is usually born of trying to understand both sides (or the many sides) of an issue. High school and college English professors want to see that you can do this (and rightly so!), which is why you all have written countless “Explain the issues of the Civil War” or “Compare and contrast X & Y” essays.
But while knowing and understanding the arguments of both sides (or all the sides) is important, decision making is about picking one. In working life, two or three fairly good solutions usually exist for any one problem — the bad solutions sift out early. Most people can tell you the merits of each. Good. But leadership is about picking one and being able to say why.
“On the one hand, and on the other hand” is often used in business settings to avoid making a choice (read: investment). But at what price? In financial theory, you find the concept of the “price of perfect knowledge.” The price of perfect knowledge is the price you would pay to know, without a doubt, which of your two or three solutions is best.
Here’s an example: I once asked an intern to arrange a new coffee machine, since the old one couldn’t keep up with demand. Nothing happened, which I vaguely wondered about. About a week later, he suprised me not with a solution but with a very detailed array of choices: we could have a coffee service, two or three small machines, one big one…
I smiled, shoved the brochures and papers back at him and said “No one will kill you for the choice you — not I — are going to make in the next five minutes. But, if the art department doesn’t have caffeine this afternoon, make sure to let us know your next of kin.”
What I saw, and what he knew deep down, was that any of these choices were pretty good, and none were “wrong.” But by working the problem for a week, and presenting me with solutions without choosing one, he far exceeded the “price of perfect knowledge” I was willing to pay.
2) One of you uses the phrase “unbiased opinion.” No opinion is unbiased; by definition, any opinion is biased. Bias is perfectly fine in a business setting; bias without being able to crisply explain the facts behind your bias is not.
No one is going to ask you to make a call in your first week or month or even six months, maybe. But, at some point, you will have worked a client’s case long enough, and have enough facts at hand, that someone senior will say “What do you think?” That’s when bias — backed by explanation — is fine and, if you were working for me, desirable. He or she may disagree — and if she’s a good mentor, she’ll explain why. It’s learning for you, not the end of the world.
And what is important here is the setting. “Being a know-it-all” is blasting off, as a junior, when your opinion wasn’t asked. That can be fatal in business, a frat or sorority, or at the family reunion. My point is, when you ARE asked… have an opinion based on facts.
3) Don’t fear speaking your mind on blogs or MySpace or whereever. No one asks you to bare your soul on your blog — write what you are comfortable revealing. I’m probably far too outspoken for my own good, but you may notice I rarely touch politics — even though I have passions there — and reveal little about my children or partner. I’ve been told by many friends and family that my music knowledge approaches that of a 10-year old, so I don’t go there either.
I’d urge you to be more outspoken than not, if you must err on one side or the other. The employer that won’t hire you because you had a reasonable opinion on a blog is not someone you want to work for anyway (I realize that doesn’t pay the rent).
4/10/2006 at 2:41 pm
Amanda Freind
Hi Dale. Thanks for the advice.
I know that I am one of those students who likes to use “on one hand…on the other hand.” I, like Jessica and Melanie, feel that a lot of this might be due to the fact that we are inexperienced. We’re (for the most part) inexperienced bloggers and relatively inexperienced professionals. But, it is through these blogs and interaction with PR professionals that we can learn to accurately and tactfully express our opinions.
On that same note, it can be a little intimidating posting and commenting on blogs knowing that a very successful PR professional is going to read what you’ve written. Everyone is trying to put their best foot forward, but I guess sometimes in doing that we try to incorporate everyone’s idea.
However, as time passes and we continue blogging each week, we are learning to research our ideas and express them clearly and confidently.
Your criticisms and suggestions are welcomed. Now that we are aware of common mistakes we as young PR practitioners make, we can catch ourselves before we do it. Thanks again!
4/10/2006 at 4:56 pm
Allan Jenkins
Amanda,
One great thing about this forum is that you can put your wrong foot forward, so to speak, and not have it chewed off.
I know all of the contributors here by reputation, most of them through email and Skype, and a couple or three personally. You couldn’t meet a nicer group of people. And every one of us has been where you are today.
So put the wrong foot, right foot… all the feet.. forward here.
Allan
4/11/2006 at 10:01 am
LeeHopkins
Having just joined the Marcom team, can I say that I echo Allan’s thoughts precisely. Not only is an opinion (an ‘educated’ one, not a WAG - ‘wild assed guess’) valid, no matter how old or young or inexperienced you are, if you have facts to back it up, but also the contributors here are ALL a friendly, helpful bunch who are looking to invest in the future of PR/marketing comms.
We did things (I still *do* things) haphazardly, awkwardly and politically incorrectly. But no one will ever shoot you for having a fact-based opinion. They may not *like* you (and that’s life, whether at work, at play or at college) but they will *respect* you for having done your homework. Keep showing seniors that you continually do your homework and the future will be so bright you gotta wear shades!
[hey, that sounds like a good idea for a song… nah, it’ll never take off]
10/1/2006 at 6:37 pm
Mary
As I have gotten older, I have realized that my opinions do matter, but I also have realized how hard it is to express my opinions to people in a higher position than I am who hold a different opinion. Because until this summer, I had had no real work experience in this field, most of the time those with differing opinions were my teachers. My opinions seemed to be more valued as an intern, the bottom of the barrel, then in my classes. In classes, it seems that a lot of times, opinions are fine to have, but as long as they are the same as your teachers. It is rare to come across a class where opinions are welcomed and praised. Because of this negative reinforcement, I am less willing to share my opinions at school. Venturing into the work world this summer gave me a new-found confidence to share my opinions about things, however minor they would be. It is encouraging and refreshing to see that in this next phase in our lives, our opinions are not only tolerated, they are encouraged and welcomed as long as they are legitimate and able to be supported.
11/16/2007 at 11:27 am
Stephanie
Good point! I completely agree, but I’m not sure I could picture myself on the first day of a job disagreeing with my boss and telling them why.
I think it’s all about confidence. Confidence comes with experience. Whether it be experience with programs and software or experience with clients.
I think everyone has to take their own path and have their own experiences until they become completely confident in themselves as a professional. Hopefully it will happen for me sooner rather than later.