No!: The Power of Disagreement in a World that Wants to Get Along

by Charlan Jeanne Nemeth

We like to get along, at home or in the workplace. We don't want to hurt people or offend. Therefore, it is no surprise that numerous famous psychological experiments have proven that we don't tend to go against authority or the majority view. Famous management gurus share the view that harmony, cohesiveness and agreement are the building blocks for effective decision-making and creativity. But they are wrong.
In No! , Charlan Nemeth, the world's leading expert on dissent, uses her 35 years of research to show why we need rebels - and how fostering more disagreement can dramatically improve decisions and the production of good ideas. Using examples from Twelve Angry Men to brainstorming, she explains how people with minority opinions need the space to express themselves uncompromisingly, even if it causes discomfort. Explaining why the devil's advocate technique doesn't work and why authentic disagreement is necessary to open our perspectives, this book has the power to revolutionise business, creative organisations, and society.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2018

Reviews

[Andrew Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

In social settings I am generally not a very confrontational person. Indeed, I sometimes have too much of a desire to be liked. But when it comes to the world of ideas, I am a passionate believer in the need for disagreement and eccentricity of thought. In this very well written and generally rigorous book -based on a life time of academic research- Professor Charlan Nemeth shows that dissent and disagreement is vital. Our common tendency to try and get along is a huge impediment to the kinds of information we seek and the decisions we make. Yet Nemeth's studies show that having even one lone dissenter when a group makes a decision significantly improves the quality of the decision made - even if the dissenter is wrong.

Nemeth also casts interesting doubt on some contrived methods of disagreement, such as the use of devil's advocates and diversity of background (such as race, gender etc). Rather it is authentic disagreement, based on the courage of an individual to push back against a group which has a massive impact on the way we approach and undertake decisions and the ultimate quality of those decisions. Someone on the internet is indeed wrong, and we should be thankful for this. Go forth and dissent.

[Xana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and relevant argument. It gets a solid 4 stars only because I found it to be explained in a quite repetitive way.

[Harald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disagreement makes for better decisions.
In many contexts – not least at work – emphasis is placed on agreement and cohesion. The author gives a number of examples of how this can lead to serious mistakes, even accidents. This is because, she believes, general agreement leads to a too narrow perspective on the breadth of available knowledge and the possibility of alternative solutions.

Nemeth primarily builds on her own research into consensus and disagreement in groups. On its own it would have seemed very technical and of limited interest, but luckily she supplements the text with a number of practical examples. They are taken from politics, air traffic, medicine, business life and not least the film "12 angry men" from 1957 with Henry Fonda as the steadfast dissident who stands against the majority. Most surprising, however, is that she uses Edward Snowden, who in 2013 leaked classified US documents, as a consistent example of the usefulness of disagreement and resistance.

Easy to read with many summaries and clarifications along the way.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very educational but repetitive

[Deni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting research, but there was so much repetition.

[Maha.Readz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so so much from this book. There were so many experiments/ case studies to back up each point and although it is a little repetitive in its conveying of ideas, I believe it’s to drill the idea in the reader’s mind and make the take-home message very clear:

Majority opinion limits our thinking while a dissenting view opens it up.
The quality of the decisions we make becomes much better after we hear an opposing point of view, even if it’s wrong or irrelevant, because it pushes us to consider alternative options and ways of thinking.
It warns us of the dangerous power of unchallenged majority views, and how its power is unanimity that once broken, liberates us to express our dissent.

All the experiments mentioned were honestly very interesting to read and tells you a lot about our nature as human beings. No one is immune to the way a majority affects us.

One of the most interesting things I’ve learned is how marketing/activism campaigns utilize the power of majority - even if it was fake - to influence us. An example in the book was about polluting.

One advertisement campaign had a prescriptive message: ‘You ought to stop polluting’, and a descriptive one: ‘many people are in fact polluting’.

The descriptive message indicated that the majority of people pollute, and while viewers felt remorse towards that, the ad was not successful in having its intended effect on them. Why? Because people automatically follow the majority, without even sometimes realizing.

& that stuck with me! It was a very informative book and I cannot recommend it enough. It lost one star for its repetitive phrases, but all in all a great book <3

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind see raamat kõnetas väga. Paljud arvavad, et nad on avatud uutele ideedele. Mõned usuvad, et nad on valmis väljakutseteks, kus nende arvamus ei pruugi õige olla, aga argumenteerimises sünnib tõde. Praktikas juhtub aga tihti, et teisitimõtlejaid ei sallita, sest nad kõigutavad status quod, võimusuhteid ja tekitavad ebamugavust. Raamat toob näiteid, kuidas sellises mullis hakkavad inimesed kollektiivides vaikima ning kuidas konsensuses sünnivad halvad otsused. Läbimõeldumad otsused nõuavad julgeid juhte, töötajana julgust endalt küsida - kas ma noogutan kaasa või julgen öelda oma arvamust ja ei karda olla outsider?

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important takeaways from this book, for me, was that dissent has value even when it's wrong. Like a lot of people, I believed that speaking out against the majority could be helpful if I was right. But Charlan Nemeth shows that dissent's value lies not in its correctness, but in its ability to break the hold that consensus has on us and making us more capable of spotting potential pitfalls in our decision making. The lessons learnt in this book have been very valuable to me and have taught me to accept diversity of thought and disagreement wherever they may arise as positives that serve to improve my decision-making, not impair it.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some great examples of well known decisions that perhaps didn’t consider all angles and some had catastrophic outcomes. The first chapter is pretty heavy with research rather then the analysis and output of the message, but I urge you to push through that first chapter because it’s definitely worth the read prompting some reflection into your own work life and understanding of perhaps we too do not set our work cultures up to foster and encourage dissent.

[Tobias Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m being generous with giving it 4 stars… I do feel it’s worth reading… but the writing was so repetitive…
The final chapter was more interesting than the chapters before it… too many of the same examples were visited, I know that they were important for context of the message of the book as a whole, but it felt dry…

Glad I read this book, the message of the book is important, and I hope I can adopt some of what I’ve read to my life, both personally and professionally…

[Natasha Coyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although in places the examples used were repetitive, this book was fantastic. Anyone fearing speaking their mind to the most willing of leaders who want and tackle criticism and dissent head-on, this book has something to offer. We would be further in society if more people acted upon the words in this book.

[Stephany Efflina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an inspiring and mind-blowing book for me. It talks about the value of dissents in problem-solving. This book gives many explanations also with examples.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book emphasizes on how dissent can lead to make better decisions.

[Jodi]

This book is fine. It just didn't resonate with me right now. I don't think I'll pick it back up again.

[Sam Gharib · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writer has outlined good points but she annoyingly repeats her points. She barely makes any sensible solutions.

[Maurice Roulette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appropriate

[Jessada Karnjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

ใจความสำคัญของ No! ตรงกับชื่อรองของหนังสือคือ The Power of Disagreement in a World That Wants to Get Along ซึ่งพูดถึงความสำคัญของ dissent ที่มีผลต่อการตัดสินใจของเราหรือของกลุ่ม โดยเฉพาะอิทธิพลที่มาจาก genuine dissent ไม่ใช่แค่การแสดงบท devil's advocate แบบปลอม ๆ ... ไม่ว่าจะรู้ตัวหรือไม่รู้ตัว ผู้เขียนบอกว่าเราทุกคนคิดโดยการเอาความคิดของคนอื่น ๆ เข้ามาเป็นปัจจัยหนึ่งด้วยเสมอ และความคิดของคนหมู่มากที่ไปในทางเดียวกันก็ส่งผลกระทบคนละแบบกับการได้ยินเสียงของคนกลุ่มน้อย ผู้เขียนยกตัวอย่างการทดลองมากมายที่ชี้ให้เห็นว่า consensus ทำให้เราคิดภายใต้กรอบที่คับแคบลง ...

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[Bernardus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this book emphasizes of authentic dissent. And, it highlighted about good process that needs diversity, mostly contains divergent thinking.