How to Disagree and Commit
The best teams don’t always agree but they always commit.
Jeff Bezos popularized the phrase “disagree and commit” in his 2016 Amazon shareholder letter. It’s one of the simplest yet most difficult leadership principles to execute.
“Disagree and commit” doesn’t mean suppressing your opinion or faking agreement. It means you’ve voiced your perspective, been heard, and then chosen to fully support the final decision, even if it’s not the one you would have made.
This concept is essential for successful teams. When everyone needs full consensus to move forward, progress slows to a crawl. When disagreement turns into dissent, execution breaks down. The middle path, disagree and commit, keeps momentum by putting the focus on the team and not the individual.
When You Disagree With Your Manager
At some point, you’ll face a situation where your manager or a senior leader chooses a path you don’t agree with. Leaders need to make difficult judgement calls all the time and they are doing what they think is best for the team. Here’s how to handle it well:
State your perspective clearly: Make your case with data, reasoning, and alternatives. Be calm and concise, not combative or defensive.
Ask clarifying questions: Learn what factors drove the decision. Sometimes you’re missing context that changes the calculus entirely. Focus on good faith questions and come with a true curiosity to better understand.
Confirm alignment after the decision: Say something like, “I still see it differently, but you’ve made the call. I’ll do everything I can to make it work.”
Follow through with conviction: Your credibility as a leader comes from how you act after the decision, not just what you say. Others will take their cue from you.
Do not use “I told you so”: Even if you end up right at the end, do not use that against the decision maker, it will only reflect poorly on you and make you appear selfish.
Disagreeing respectfully and then executing with intensity builds trust in both directions. Your manager sees that you have a strong perspective but you are willing to put that aside and do what they think is right. Doing this well will make you incredibly valuable to your manager and also likely make them respect you on a different level.
When You Need Your Team to Disagree and Commit
Leaders also need to create a culture where team members can challenge decisions, and still rally behind the final call either way.
Here’s how to do that:
Invite dissent early: Don’t punish disagreement. Encourage it in brainstorming or planning stages. Say, “If you disagree, I want to hear it now,” and mean it. Encourage the team to provide counter perspective but make it clear how and who will make the final decision to properly set expectations.
Make decisions transparent: Explain why the choice was made, not just what it is. The “why” turns frustration into understanding.
Model the behavior: As stated above, when your own manager makes a call you disagree with, show your team how to commit anyway. They’ll mirror your example.
Recognize effort after the fact: When someone gives their all to a plan they didn’t love, acknowledge it. It reinforces psychological safety and selflessness.
Do not use “I told you so”: Same as above, never use this against an individual on your team. It could squash their confidence and silence them in future discussions.
Acknowledge if you got it wrong: If someone else on the team was “right” be sure to tell them. Be reflective on your own decision making but also be clear that you felt like you made the right choice at the time.
When to Disagree and Not Commit
Being a good follower is important for any leader but there is a limit. There is no hard and fast rule about how many times you are asked to disagree and commit and whether the results worked or not. If you find you are repeatedly put in a position to disagree and commit it may be time to consider a new opportunity.
Do not disagree and not commit in your current role, it is unfair to you and your team. Look to move on.
Final Thoughts
Healthy teams manage conflict productively. “Disagree and commit” is about trust. If you want to build a culture that can disagree and commit, you need to foster an environment where conflicting viewpoints are not punished and that everyone puts the team above themselves.