What Comes After The Disagreement?

I sure hope you weren't thinking as soon as the election was over things would get back to normal. We shouldn't be shocked by how things are going right now. And we shouldn't think things would be any different had the results gone the other way. Based on how close the election was in so many states it is clear how equally divided we still are. Where we go after the disagreement will tell us what our future is going to look like.

Our country is an organization, like so many others. Like any organization it has conflicts and decisions to make. Not everyone is going to agree with every decision. Say you are launching a new product, some think it should be green, some think it should be orange. In most organizations, before you decide on the color, you have a discussion, listing the pros and cons for each choice and trying to make the best decision you can. When the company decides it is going to be green you have people that might not get behind the decision, waiting for the time to say "I told you so" if it fails. Or those that agreed with the decision gloating about the fact they were right when it is a success.

Learning to be civil while debating a topic is a rare art. Being gracious in victory and defeat is a rare quality. Loving your enemy is a rare feeling. 

Successful organizations are those that have figured out how to hire and grow the types of people that embrace those rare elements. Politics is just one of many areas we are divided over in this country. We are divided because we either don't understand or we don't care. We might never agree, but if we seek to understand and we always care about the person on the other side, I believe it starts to look more like something everyone can be proud of, no matter what side you are on.

Only Destroyed From The Inside


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