Al Davis: Evaluate the Evaluator

Al Davis loved watching tape. He loved NFL draft preparation and was willing to skip his typical morning routine in the months leading up to instead hold court with coaches and scouts.

At the center of a giant conference room was his table with his signature black-felt tipped pens and giant sheets with information on each available prospect. Davis would sit in a large padded chair, facing an enormous screen barking instructions to play the next video. He would ask specific questions on each player to scouts or coaches like a defense attorney cross examining a witness. And with Davis, all parties had to be ready to answer.

Like a great attorney, Davis never asked a question he didn't already know the answer to. He simultaneously tested two variables in his decision-making process:

1. How much confidence someone had in an opinion

2. The real agenda behind that opinion

Davis felt everyone had an agenda and that no opinion was pure. To him, everyone had an ulterior motive. Davis searched with each question for the hidden meaning before he would evaluate the advice. It’s easy to conclude from all of this that he was overly paranoid, and perhaps that’s true. But this was the only way he could develop trust when taking counsel.

For all of us as leaders, we must always be aware of the agenda from people we ask for recommendations. Not all advisors are being intentionally being devious or malicious with their answers. And some don't even know they have an agenda when they offer their information.

But there are always internal biases at play that can impact the words we impart on people. Davis was aware of this and was constantly evaluating the evaluator before allowing that person to influence him. His quest to find those answers is what ultimately allowed him to make the best choices possible.

Evaluate the evaluator. And find the hidden agendas.