Is it possible for a corporate culture to be too pleasant?

What are the odds of not having differing opinions and experiences in a team? The odds are precisely: zero.

People will have differing opinions about the best way to do something, market to chase, etc. People form opinions based on the sum of their life experiences and knowledge.

When a corporate culture is too pleasant, it’s often a sign of they lack a sufficient level of trust. Without trust, people will avoid confrontation. Without confrontation, people will not bring forward their opinions.

Didn’t you hire them from their experiences and opinions?

Get them talking

One of my favourite tools to get people talking is silent brainstorming. Remove the voices from the room until ideas and opinions are visible.

Use a fist of five to express the degree of which they are aligned or comfortable with a question.

Draw a picture to represent their opinions. (Eg. Draw a picture to represent the team culture.)

There are lots of ways to get them talking. Bring in a little creativity, and you’ll find it’s not that hard to do.

You’ve got this.