Twice today I have been told that someone doesn’t agree with me. For a fraction of a second I was hurt and in a way I probably still am. I am blogging about it after all.
Yet the more I think about it the less concerned I become. Everyone deep down believes that what they are doing is right or knows when they are doing wrong. We say that we don’t mind being challenged and respect other opinions but a lot of the time this is just phatic – a way to fill in the conversation.
In the competitive environment in which we find ourselves we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to persuade others that they are not on the right track and if they would only listen to you then they would see the light. But how often does this work? It takes a long time to change people’s opinion, even your own.
Someone disagreeing with you is going to happen all the time, usually behind your back, but someone telling you so is a rarer event. Having two people say so in such a short space of time is like lightning striking twice.
It is a positive. I am taking it to mean that I am the kind of person who you can contradict. I am taking it that they were confident to do so in the knowledge that I would not overreact. I haven’t. I have winced a bit and thought about. I have tried to take their points of view on board and can see what they mean. I may still disagree with them and they with me but at least we understand our positions.
It is a shame that more disagreement is not encouraged as it is only through challenge that change can ever happen. No One has a monopoly on good ideas and no one is right in all situations. It is only through hearing other opinions that arguments can be formed and solutions delivered.
We need to celebrate diversity of thinking even if you don’t agree with me.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 