Saturday Share: Dare to Disagree
Every Saturday I would like to share with you a video I find inspirational. There are so many amazing, enriching resources out there. Hopefully these videos will bring you joy and inspiration!
We live in THE age of information. Almost anything we could want to know is at our fingertips. However many would argue that most of the population thinks less than previous generations did. We have less well-thought strong personal opinions than our ancestors. Yet we have access to more data. Why is this? Why are we not a thinking society? Why are our organizations not thinking organizations? Why do they fall into the same traps over and over? Margeret Heffernan believes it is due to our fear of conflict and I for one agree with her. I do NOT like talking politics. I avoid it at all costs due to the conflict that the topic has caused within my family. Just the idea of talking politics makes my insides clench. So I can honestly say I don’t research as much as I should. I don’t have those tough conversations where both myself and the other person could grow. As Margaret says I am (like the rest of our society), “willfully blind to information because we don’t want to deal with the conflict that could arise”. So I’m going to try and embrace the conflict on the tough issues both in my work and in my life. I’m going to ask the tough questions and do my research to defend my answers. I’m already the devil’s advocate at work so I just need to work up the moral courage to stand up for what I believe and questions things I don’t in all aspects of my life.
What do you think about conflict as a way of thinking? Do you have that person in your life to prove you right or wrong but in love?
If you have a favorite inspirational YouTube video, I’d love to see it! Contact me at [email protected] or comment below.
I love this talk. I’m constantly surrounded by people who don’t speak up because they’re afraid of conflict. Most people are concerned about losing their jobs or jeopardizing their retirement plans by speaking out against some injustice. I was surrounded by it so often in education that I left last year–I couldn’t stand indifference any longer.
Good for you Claudia! That had to be hard. It’s true that a lot of people don’t speak up, or stick their necks out for others even when they know something is wrong. Daring to Disagree is a courageous act and one that is necessary for growth. Hopefully where you are now is better!