Don't be a Strawman

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

First off, let’s address the elephant in the room. This email probably looks pretty different to most of you who have been reading for a while.

For over 6 months we have been just been creating good content and hoping it sticks with readers. We didn’t really spend much time thinking about what it should look like or making it look good.

Now that we are a growing company with a growing audience, we decided it was time for a little glow up.

If you like our new logos and theme be sure to let us know!

If you don’t like it then go ahead and just forget you ever saw it.

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The Strawman and The Steelman

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they take one of your comments and completely manipulate it? Maybe it goes something like this:

John: I think we need to add more security cameras to our building. Thefts have been going up and we have a lot of valuable copper in the warehouse.

Ryan: Adding cameras would be an expensive waste of resources, I trust our neighbors to not steal from us.

While John never said anything about the neighbors, Ryan assumed that John doesn’t trust the neighbors and implied this in his response. Ryan may generally think it’s not worth it to add security cameras, but by picking the easiest and most fallible part of the idea he is taking the Strawman approach that doesn’t actually address the problem.

A Strawman argument is when you pick the weakest part of the argument and attack that, often misrepresenting information or taking things way out of context.

Let’s face it, if you own a non-tech business it’s highly likely that you manage a team of people. Nothing will bring a team down faster than by allowing a toxic work environment to persist in the company culture.

If ideas are not fully evaluated and decided upon, this can foster an environment of employees feeling like their opinions aren’t valued and aren’t important.

That’s why it’s important to Steelman an argument as much as possible.

John: I think we need to add more security cameras to our building. Thefts have been going up and we have a lot of valuable copper in the warehouse.

Ryan: Well let’s look at it this way. Adding cameras would cost around $2,000, and it’s questionable if they would actually prevent any theft. Is our inventory valuable enough to justify this expense?

Instead of attacking the weakest part of an argument, Ryan listens to John and thinks through the problem. He presents his own opinion to John and asks John to clarify some information. By responding as a Steelman, Ryan invites further discussion and brainstorming instead of just dismissing an idea.

We’ve all worked in organizations where the managers and executives think they are God’s gift to humanity and their word is the law.

One of the ways you distinguish your business as an actual valuable asset is by developing a culture of processes and employees that can get things done efficiently and quickly.

For a refresher on why you need to build an asset instead of a job, check out this previous post.

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