Everyone comes from a different life experience and has witnessed, researched, or considered things you haven’t.  -REALLY!

But far too often we are too busy, proud, judgmental, and afraid to dive in and try to discover what those things are.

This morning I watched this unfold on a friend’s Facebook feed:

My friend had posted about a controversial topic.

And one of his friends responded, informing him (and the rest of his friends) that she could not stand the flood of his posts expressing his views. Then she declared that she was unfollowing him for a certain length of time hoping that the person she thinks he is, will return.

Apparently she doesn’t think she’s missing anything, by expecting her friends to fit into a box and agree with everything she believes.

What she didn’t know is that she just added fuel to my increasing curiosity and fascination with this kind of behavior:   

“ If we dare to speak our truth, but veil it in judgment, how can anyone hear us?

“ …If we can’t hear each other, how can our truth change the world?

“ …If we aren’t speaking to change our world, why are we speaking — if not to judge?

And when we continue to speak WHILE WE JUDGE, a majority of our world witnesses:

1. Polar opposites lobbing word grenades at each other
2. Drama instead of dialog
3. Increasing conflict instead of collaboration
4. More problems than solutions

Oddly enough, just twenty-nine-hours prior to reading my friend’s Facebook feed, I was a guest host with Dan Forbes for a #LeadWithGiants Tweet Chat titled What if we disagree?

During that chat, 75 people discussed the questions at the bottom of this post and considered the impact of our attitudes and behaviors when we are in the midst of a disagreement.  In my next post I’ll share some of their thoughts with you.

Today I’m DARING YOU to consider the questions below and examine how YOUR behavior in the midst of a disagreement impacts:

• YOUR intellectual growth
• YOUR problem solving ability
• YOUR life
• YOUR relationships
• YOUR workplace
• YOUR community
• YOUR nation
• YOUR world

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

1. What if we disagree?
2. Why do we struggle to listen to and consider dissenting opinions?
3. When is it important to consider a dissenting opinion?
4. When is it important to offer a dissenting opinion?
5. What specific behaviors and actions shut down productive dialogs?
6. How does open and candid dialog impact problem solving?
7. Do YOU seek dialog with people who disagree with you? REALLY? Why?
8. Why are we less willing to consider the opinions of others, than we are to share our own?
9. What have you learned from considering another perspective?