Beware of the HiPPO
I've been thinking a lot recently about group-think and how at work, as well as in politics and life, we are all swayed by the opinions of leaders or each other, despite our best intentions to think critically and objectively. Covid-19 is a great example of this. In the UK and USA, the following have all been prevailing logic, in quite a short period of time:
- "all we need to do is wash our hands"
- "masks matter, but only for the NHS"
- "the science on masks is pretty sketchy. there's no need to wear one"
- "wear a mask!"
- "you are a selfish idiot if you're NOT wearing a mask! DO IT NOW!".
Much like the virus, these 'truths of the day' often emanate from a single source, but they spread quickly from person to person. We hear it once and naively learn, then - often within hours or even minutes - set about expertly teaching everyone around us! ("actually, I heard...").
As humans, we are less logical and more easily influenced than we like to believe. In work meetings, we are particularly susceptible to the HiPPO effect. A HiPPO is the Highest Paid Person's Opinion. The HiPPO in a meeting is usually the most senior. When a HiPPO talks, they set the tone for everyone else's responses. If we hear the HiPPO and we previously had an opposing view, we tend to keep quiet, or severely dampen down that viewpoint to bring it more into line with the new prevailing norm.
Unfortunately, this quickly leads to lazy group-think - and to teams or collaborations that end up being less than the sum of their parts. One of my favourite Productivity Ninja characteristics is 'Unorthodoxy'. It's important to think differently, take ideas and inspiration from unusual places and challenge conformity - and to offer your riskier ideas or opinions to the group for examination, to help everyone break out of cosy consensus mode.
But what if you're in a meeting where you're the HiPPO? You probably stand a good chance of adding value but on the other hand, your very presence is a risk because your influence is so strong that it may prevent the most useful ideas from ever being aired. Here are a few ways that, as a HiPPO, you can soften or lessen the effect:
Consciously make the decision to speak last in the group, so the tone is firmly set without you
Be humble and brief in your contributions
Ask more questions than you give answers
Dish out lots of praise for other peoples’ ideas
Create a space for healthy dissent, analysis and disagreement
Remember the old Harry Truman quote “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit”.
The HiPPO effect and a hundred other things are part of Think Productive's Fixing Meetings workshop, which we deliver online and are also really excited to be delivering face-to-face again with our clients in the autumn. Probably whilst wearing a mask. If you want to find out more, just click on the link above.