Don't fall for the view-less trap

Many people have a fear of speaking up when they're one of the more junior people in the room.

They tell themselves things like:

• "If I speak up, I have to take a strong position on the topic."
• "If I speak up, I need to make sure my argument has no weaknesses."
• "If I speak up, I need to have 100% confidence in anything I claim."

And as a result? When they speak up, they tend to make one of three mistakes.

The first mistake is over-caveating.

It's when you worry about your credibility (or lack thereof), and therefore put a bubble-wrap around anything you say.

❌ For example:

• "I'm new to this market so I could be totally off here, so feel free to dismiss this, but maybe there's an issue with our premium pricing strategy? Again, I don't have the full picture so I could be totally wrong here."

Your false humility comes off as defensive, rather than open-minded.

Ironically, instead of being assured by your honesty, people tend to lose confidence and become more critical instead.

The second mistake people tend to make is the opposite of over-caveating – it's over-dominance.

It's when you worry about your lack of gravitas, and over-correct by intentionally making strong, categorical assertions.

❌ For example:

• "I think the issue simply boils down to 2 things: pricing and user awareness. As long as we focus on fixing these two issues, I'm confident that we'll see growth pick up quickly."

Look, it's not that you can't be confident or assertive as a junior person.

Rather, it's that when you communicate this way, you close the door on other people. They don't get a chance to build on your thinking.

It doesn't matter if you turn out to be right. You simply haven't brought others along the journey. It's simply not the right way to influence.

Now, these two mistakes are rather easy to understand and to course-correct against.

But the third one? It's where many people tend to get tripped up without knowing.

And it's what I call the view-less trap.

What is the view-less trap?

The view-less trap is exactly what it sounds like: it's when you say a lot, but don't actually submit a point of view.

But what exactly is a point of view?

As counterintuitive as it sounds: a point of view is a claim that can be proven wrong. It's an argument that can be falsified. It's a hypothesis that can be invalidated.

So why does this matter?

Well, because if you start listening carefully: you'll find that many people at work fall into the view-less trap without knowing.

Sure, they may still exude confidence when they speak – but it doesn't change the fact that they haven't actually delivered a point of view.

They then end up saying a lot without saying anything.

For example, consider the following statements:

• ❌ "We need to really figure out what's not working with this new product, and focus on fixing the most important issues." (Who would ever disagree?)
• ❌ "We need to leverage our cross-functional expertise to create a more holistic approach in order to best serve our customers." (Again, when is this ever a controversial statement?)
• ❌ "If we truly put the customer's needs at the center of our product design process, we will see a natural increase in retention." (So if retention doesn't increase, we'll just need to put the customer's needs in the center even more? How does that make sense?)

The one thing in common here? None of these statements are really falsifiable.

They're vague and at times tautological. They say things that no one would realistically disagree with.

And they add very little value as a result.

As a junior person who wants to speak up but doesn't quite have the confidence yet?

It can be very tempting to rely on this approach – especially when you see others doing it (and seemingly "getting away" with it).

After all, you get to speak up (thus ensuring your presence), without taking on much risk of being wrong (because you're not really taking a stand on anything).

But what you have to realize is that this is a low-risk, low-reward survival strategy that fails to add value.

It keeps you safe – but it also keeps you invisible.

Instead, consider what it actually means to have a point of view. For example:

• ✅ "I only have anecdotal feedback at this point, but I suspect that XYZ product is struggling to scale due to unattractive incentives for our distribution partners. I think we should validate further by..."
• ✅ "We should consider doing more than just competing on low prices; for example, I'm thinking that if we can offer value-added services, it might help us differentiate ourselves and gain market share faster. For example..."
• ✅ "I wonder if we have done customer surveys recently? I suspect that we're struggling to retain users because we're focused on copying features from developed markets, instead of designing for emerging market needs. Specifically..."

What you'll notice is this:

• Having a point of view does not mean that you always have to be strong, assertive, or even infallible with your arguments. Instead, the key is to be precise and direct – with an intentional bias for cause and effect ("I think X may have happened because of Y" or "I think if we do X we can achieve Y").
• In fact, the best operators are often highly intentional in communicating their confidence levels when they share their views. The best ones acknowledge it when their hypotheses are still evolving (which is more than OK!), proactively share their assumptions, and explicitly call out what they don't know.
• Having a point of view also does not mean that you're forced to communicate in a rigid or unnatural way ("I hypothese X because of Y"). It just means that you anchor on hypothesis-driven thinking as much as possible, instead of mistaking buzzwords for insight.

Remember: it's not about whether you're being too assertive or not assertive enough.

It's about whether you're pushing yourself to develop an actual point of view – and whether you're able to communicate it in a clear and direct manner.

Key Takeaways

• Speaking up in meetings as a junior person can be tricky: you don't want to be too defensive or too overbearing. Neither is productive.
• But the most important thing is to avoid the view-less trap. It is an approach that may appear tempting at times, but simply doesn't add any value.
• To avoid the view-less trap? Challenge yourself to think in terms of hypotheses. Focus on the cause and effect at play. Ditch corp-speak for precision. Be transparent about what you know and don't know.
• Most importantly? Ask yourself often if what you're saying can be proven wrong. And if the answer is yes? That's a great start.

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