A two-stage protocol for handling disagreement with a senior stakeholder's unexpected call. First, curiosity before pushback: ask whether they have context you lack ("is there context I don't have informing this?") before arguing the decision itself — this establishes a shared information baseline rather than starting from friction.
If that doesn't resolve it, a second check: (1) is the other person's mind already made up — if so, stop; (2) if it's open, is there data on either side — bring it if you have it; (3) if neither side has data, defer to the more senior opinion without treating it as a loss. Quote: "If nobody's got data, it's just two opinions, the CEO's opinion is going to win... Check your ego at the door, get to the answer, but if you've got data, bring it."
Related to Empathy-Based Disagreement Script and Disagree and Commit — this protocol is more procedural/sequential than either, and explicitly ranks data over seniority over ego.
Из тем: Stakeholder Power and Trust