Leadership lessons from Twelve Angry Men – lesson 5

The scene based around the discussion of the metro train passing in front of the window is an excellent example of lesson five, “systems thinking”.

Juror n°8 fights hard to stay focused while juggling with multiple pieces of information; the speed of the train, the woman in the opposite apartment, the cry of the boy, the body hitting the floor …….

Leadership is not about having plenty of answers, but it is about having plenty of questions and pulling together different, and often opposing, pieces of information to come to a holistic answer.

It is often easier to see a problem as a linear series of events; this however, leads to peripheral blindness.

He involves others by asking them questions, “have you ever lived near a train line?”, “do you think he could have heard the boy?” ……

It’s by looking at an issue collectively and from different angles that robust solutions can be found.