Harmonize Stakeholder Perspectives! 🤝 Here's my plan for addressing conflicting senior stakeholder approaches: 1. Facilitate a neutral, open dialogue to understand each perspective. 🗣️ 2. Identify common ground and shared objectives among stakeholders. 🎯 3. Conduct data-driven analysis to evaluate each approach objectively. 📊 4. Develop a hybrid solution incorporating strengths from multiple viewpoints. 🔄 5. Create a detailed implementation plan with clear roles and responsibilities. 📝 6. Establish regular check-ins to monitor progress and address concerns. 🕒 Foster collaboration, leverage diverse expertise, and ensure alignment, leading to more effective decision-making and successful project outcomes.

Have faced a high voltage drama when we had opposing views from super senior stakeholders. A simple exercise was done to show which approach had the least costs and max benefit and it was all resolved!

Egos can often get in the way of genuine discussion about the pros and cons of a particular approach, particularly when it is a high-stakes decision. To engage in collaborative decision-making, it is ideal to capture all perspectives and data ahead of the planned discussion, align in advance on the measures of success, and then engage in the discussion of each option vs the measures of success.

The one who controls the budget :) But seriously, different perspectives and views make a better product in my experience, even if the discovery process can be challenging.

Probably neither of them. Senior stakeholders are only truly senior when they recognize their own limitations or biases and negotiate towards a joint outcome. Cooperation (and alliance with other stakeholders, regardless of stature) is the best way to defuse any kind of conflict—otherwise they probably shouldn’t be considered senior stakeholders in the first place.

Eventually, the approach that has the highest probablity of achieving desired business outcomes and upholds organozational values will succeed.

One time at work: As an EA, I faced a CTO pushing for cloud-first vs a CFO advocating on-prem cost optimisation. The deadlock hindered our digital transformation. In my experience such conflicts often arise from valid but isolated perspectives, leading to missed opportunities. What I found useful: * TOGAF's ADM for a shared vision * Business capability mapping * Value stream analysis * Scenario planning We ran focused workshops using these EA techniques. By visualising impacts and outcomes, we crafted a hybrid strategy: optimising on-prem infrastructure while gradually migrating to cloud. This balanced innovation and cost-saving. Key takeaway: EA tools transform conflicts into solvable problems, creating common ground for stakeholders.

Here are a few pointers that I practice on my day to day work: 1.Building trust 2. Setting clear Expectations 3. Being Assertive

With stakeholder engagement, this is a common occurrence. It is not about seeking right from wrong. It is about facilitating a transparent conversation where personal biases can be acknowledged and decision-making based on both factual evidence, business requirements and with an empathetic leadership lens. This will result in the best course of action and intern return on investment.