Discussions of the stimulus package are extremely frustrating regardless of political perspective… Everyone agrees we have a problem and need to do something significant. However among 535 independent Congressional members who are dedicated to doing the best thing for America, only three initially determined that they could cross party lines.
The reasons and issues are less relevant than the fact we are stuck in black and white perspectives. If you watch Rachel Maddow and Hannity & Colmes any night discussing the exact same issues, it is like they live on different planets. It is not just Congress and newscasters. Even before all the arguments and research are completed, one can usually predict individual votes of the Supreme Court. There was even an article in the New York Times Style Section about hostesses being afraid to invite Republicans and Democrats to the same party.
Similarly, any discussion of social media like Facebook and Twitter usually produces the same example of this enthusiasm versus resistance. While many adults don’t know about them, over one hundred millions people visit these sites every day. That and the fact that a majority of young people under 25 spend a significant amount of time on them make social media a factor in our society. Many of those young people find them a valuable places to interact, learn, meet people, express their true feelings, etc. In contrast many adults unsuccessfully try to block it and unknowingly think that everyone on the sites are deviants. In the middle are the marketers who are faced with declining media audiences in vehicles like T.V. and newspapers. These people, who could care less about the social values, are primarily concerned with the opportunity to sell something.
The result of this Black and White orientation dramatically affects our day to day lives. Instead of lively discussions of alternatives, we settle for developing solutions that we know the key decision makers will buy into. I am currently involved in negotiations on a project where the subordinates of each group spend most of their time developing solutions their superiors will accept rather than trying to develop innovative solutions that will fly with all parties. Similarly, even the bank executives acknowledge that they didn’t get it and have been working in an old reality. However the openness, looking at alternatives, and understanding others perspectives seem missing from most decisions.
There are some simple recommendations to reduce the black and white perspective:
1. First, get alternative approaches on the table then try to evaluate them objectively.
2. Take the time to understand the reasons and goals for different perspectives. Specifically, put yourself in the other person’s shoes instead of just rejecting the approach.
3. Be willing to consider new ideas and realities particularly when some of the old ones aren’t working.
Do you have other suggestions?
2 comments on this topic
17. February - 8:37 pm
…”working in an old reality” can only be progressive if hammered to the wall. Then it has possible maturement if the angle of the tool to the nail registers to the project.