The Straw Man Is Your Friend

“Straw Man,” not to be confused with the poor, brainless scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, is a different kind of tool we consultants use. A straw man is an early draft of an idea or a target “to be” that is specifically designed for people to poke holes in.

Legend has it the term came around back when less-than-popular politicians would put dressed-up dummies on stage before a big speech to see how many tomatoes and eggs the crowd was going to hurl, though it more likely came from old military combat dummies (soldiers would attack them with bayonets, much like the project team will do with “straw man” ideas!).

Either way, the idea is the same: Start with a simple idea that no one is emotionally invested in and begin trying to knock it to the ground like a piñata.

In formal rhetorical debate, a straw man argument is actually a considered a foul because the position being taken doesn’t reflect reality, but in the consulting process of developing an idea, that’s exactly the point! Coming to the table with something substantial, impressive and fully thought-out may be tempting, but one of the worst times to discover fundamental differences in vision is after you’ve spent painstaking hours on a potentially invalid idea, process or project outline.

Here’s why the straw man is your friend:

He helps you avoid these problems:

• Inability to get started or coalesce around a starting point. The truth is, most people are better critics than they are authors. The straw man gives them something to build from that works better than a blank sheet of paper.
• Exacerbating the emotional investment in ideas that makes people either defensive, closed to new ideas or blind to weaknesses.

He helps you out by:

• Giving a team something tangible to kick around amid abstractions.
• Uncovering a project or idea’s fundamental strengths and flaws.
• Getting everyone on the same page (or revealing when they’re not).
• Facilitating discussion and analysis without anyone feeling attacked (the straw man, after all, is the target). This is similar to the white board principle: “People tend to be more creative and open they know their ideas can obliterated with a swipe of the eraser.”

Our advice is to make it abundantly clear in documents, presentations, meetings and emails to remind people that what you’ve brought to the table is meant to be riven, because it’s amazing how quickly people can forget. You risk your client thinking the practice dummy is your best effort, or they may be reluctant to scrap it when it’s time for a real draft.

A straw man doesn’t represent a complete idea. Use him for what he is intended for: a discussion and brainstorming tool. Something you can poke holes in! As ideas develop, teams sometimes try to upgrade to “wood man,” “stone man,” or “steel man” versions, which is okay if those terms can be defined, but in the end I recommend taking what you’ve learned and starting afresh instead of trying to steadily revise the practice dummy.

Either way, with practice you’ll find a straw man technique that works well for you. And remember, the straw man isn’t real, doesn’t have an ego, and can be abused as much as you want – guilt-free. In the end, you’ll have a happy customer, and you’ll be a better consultant.