“I’m going to challenge you on that…”
“I’m going to challenge you on that…” Seems like I am hearing this phrase more often lately at the office…and I kind of don’t like it so much…

It goes something like this… I say something someone doesn’t like at all and they feel the need to say “I am going to challenge you on that...” prior to stating an argument that has no chance of standing…

When this happens…it feels like like a bad corporate version of Karate Kid fight lead in…or maybe start of a Monty Python skit…

I immediately become disinterested…

“I’m going to challenge you” … Does this mean things are going to get physical? Maybe…not really sure…

Don’t get me wrong…I love healthy conflict in the workplace. I find myself “pressure testing” others’ ideas or leaning in to “explore alternate options”…I just don’t find it perfectly helpful to throw down the “I’m going to challenge you on that…” gauntlet to do it.

Is “I’m going to challenge you on that…” some kind of psychological warfare technique? Is it meant to throw me off my game…like a 5th year defense back running his mouth off to a rookie wide receiver?

It’s ok, and important, to disagree about important matters in the office…maybe we can just find a better phrase to kick off the debate?

Something like, “Have you thought of…” or “Perhaps this could me an alternative approach…” or as my team would point out as a favorite of mine … “Can you walk me through your thoughts on that one…”

So how do I play a part in fixing this impending epidemic? How should I respond next time someone blurts out “I am going to challenge you on that…”

The most obvious solution might be to state “Challenge Accepted!” in a stoic Traveler accent a la Brad Pitt in Snatch… return fire in the workplace game of psychological warfare…

But perhaps instead, I should simply inform the offender of how ridiculous “I am going to challenge you on that” sounds… my little part in helping to curb a building crisis of workplace etiquette.
['Jeff Salanco']
['Workplace Culture', 'Startup']