Keeping the Peace

“There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow… “ CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

Wow now isn’t that the truth? Here is another excellent opportunity to sharpen your conflict resolution skills.

Some of you accept new ideas right away in fact you live for the opportunity to challenge the status quo. Some of you don’t see the need for anything new, everything works now as-is, why gum up the process? Why fix something that is not broken?

Most of you are probably somewhere in the middle. You are not opposed to new ideas, but you might not always be an early adopter of new ideas. Oh, unless the idea is yours or you are a champion of this new idea. I mean you no offense, but think about it. It is much easier to accept something new if it comes from a source you trust, it is your solution to a problem or it helps you resolve an issue that has been causing you lots of discomfort. There is nothing wrong with that, just remember to give your team members time to adjust.

If YOU are the one who has already accepted an idea or already understands something, you really want to be patient with those who are not caught up with you yet. You have had time to fall in love with this new idea; you have already gone through a learning curve with this new idea. Give others the same opportunity.

If YOU are the one who feels like others are ‘inflicting’ a new idea on you or a new process or a new approach, remember to be open minded and try to understand why this new thing is so important to them. Don’t say no because you have not had time to think things through, just ask for the time and information you need to understand the new idea. Then consider the idea openly and from different perspectives. Now you can think things through objectively and maybe this new idea is not so bad after all.

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