Invite the Challenge Before the Plan Hardens

A useful growth lesson: it’s easier to revise a decision before people start defending it as their decision.

Before committing to a plan, name one assumption it depends on and invite someone to test it: “What are we treating as true that might change this choice?” That gives challenge a clear job—not to undermine the owner, but to improve the direction while it can still move.

The decision owner can still make the call and explain the trade-off. The growth is in making room for evidence to change that call, rather than treating correction as a loss of authority. A clear course should be sturdy enough to be questioned.