How to Argue Constructively (Philosophy Friday #20)
7Drew Levin is currently Director of Product at Riot Games and before that a Director of Product Management at Zynga.
Zynga vs. Riot: two companies with wildly different approaches to game development, decision-making, and a culture of debate and discussion. Even more, Drew worked as a political campaign manager before game development.
I believe Drew is uniquely experienced in speaking very deeply about different cultures and approaches to having constructive debates within a corporate context.
However, more broadly, in our talk today, we discuss the following:
- #1. The problem at many companies focused on winning vs. discussion and seeking truth
- #2. Impact of company culture
- #3. Specific techniques to facilitate more constructive discussions
- #4. Ideas and ways in which we can improve discussions
OUTLINE:
0:00 Intro
3:05 How to keep debates focused on seeking truth?
7:10 The impact of decision-making structure
11:15 How cultural context and company systems impact how people argue (Zynga vs. Riot)
28:40 Company initiatives to help create more open discussion environments
34:50 Specific techniques to facilitate better discussions: The Steel Man technique
40:10 Adam Grant's concept of "complexification"
51:33 Ray Dalio's recommendations from his book Principles
57:03 Impact of culture around debate/discussion on decision speed
1:01:19 Knock-on effects of winning: how to avoid "disagree and disengage"
๐ EPISODE LINKS:
- Drew Levin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-levin-7a225626/
- Adam Grant, "How to Argue about Abortion": https://adamgrant.bulletin.com/how-to-argue-about-abortion/
- Paul Saffo on Strong Opinions, Weakly Held: https://www.saffo.com/02008/07/26/strong-opinions-weakly-held/
- AORs by Asana: https://wavelength.asana.com/workstyle-aors/
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