Challenging

Deliberately questioning something in order to test out its soundness and/or get it improved.

Everything can and should be challenged on a continuous basis. A lack of challenging leads to ossification, complacency and a lack of development. Not a pretty picture.

The whole idea of challenging is to stimulate thinking and to cause dissatisfaction. It may sound foolhardy to incite you to stir up dissatisfaction but it is a necessary pre-condition for any change. It is the juxtaposition of dissatisfactions (with current reality) and visions (of how much better things could be) that creates a positive desire to close the gap. No dissatisfaction, no change or at best trifling, cosmetic changes.

Essentially, challenging is about playing devil's advocate, ie deliberately putting the opposing view by objecting to something to test out its soundness and/or to get it improved. You can challenge:

• the assumptions that lie behind people's thinking
• the beliefs that lie behind people's actions
• the appropriateness of people's behaviour in a given set of circumstances
• the methods, processes, procedures and rules that govern the way things are done.

Some of the most fruitful challenges are ones that go 'back to basics' and query undeclared assumptions or beliefs. For example, the assumption that people are basically passive, dependent and need external incentives to goad them into action, as opposed to the assumption that people are basically creative, active and want to do well. Or the belief that life should be fair and everyone should be treated equally. Or the belief that things should always be orderly, predictable and harmonious. There is no end to the possibilities. Even apparently straightforward attempts to describe a problem are worth challenging to check that it is the best one to solve. A famous example is where complaints about the length of waiting times for elevators in a plush apartment block led to the assumption that the solution lay in the installation of additional elevators; an expensive exercise. The assumption that there was 'no alternative' (how often have you heard that?) was challenged and the problem became 'how to reduce complaints about the length of waiting times for elevators?' The inexpensive solution was to install large mirrors in all the elevator lobbies. This gave residents something useful to look at while they waited and, psychologically, it seemed less irksome. Complaints plummeted.

Whenever you challenge someone else's assumptions, beliefs, behaviour or methods you are providing them with an opportunity to survive the objections and/or to further develop their ideas.

You can also reverse the process by inviting people to challenge you so that they learn the skills of playing devil's advocate (why should you have all the fun?) and you learn what it's like to be on the receiving end. All rules, regulations and procedures should be challenged at least annually to whip up dissatisfaction and a desire for change.