Give the team one version to work from

Growth · Little Light original

Two capable people spend half a meeting disagreeing about figures that came from different versions of the same file. Each has checked their work. Each hears the other's confidence as an accusation. The problem is not a lack of effort; the work has lost its shared starting point. Clarity sometimes looks less impressive than another analysis. It is the current file in a place everyone can find, a date that means something, and an explanation of which assumptions changed. When that reference is clear, people can spend their judgment on the real question instead of defending work built on different instructions. Leadership does not always require a larger idea. Sometimes it requires removing the avoidable confusion that makes good colleagues appear difficult to one another. Before asking the team to reconcile its conclusions, make sure it is looking at the same thing. A shared reference will not create agreement by itself, but it gives disagreement a fairer and more useful place to begin.

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