The level of political/ideological division in the United States (and I believe the world) is as great as it has been in my lifetime. And that division has increasingly become unhealthy and unhelpful in helping us as a society build a better future. Division isn’t really the problem though – destructive division is. What follows are five facts about human nature and some comments about them. Collectively they can help us see the difference between division and destructive division and how we can progress down the destructive path (even if we don’t want to).
Division
Fact: People will have different opinions and perspectives.
Comment: This has always been true. (How boring would life be, really, if there were never differences of opinion?) But differences of opinion aren’t a bug of human dynamics, they are a feature. Differences of perspectives and ideas help us build new ideas, increase productivity. Differences honed through dialogue create more than new ideas though – they are the foundation of greater insights, wisdom and options.
Congregation
Fact: When we congregate with those whose opinions we share, we become more convinced we are right, and less likely to even see/consider other perspectives.
Comment: Social media is blamed for making this easier to occur (the echo chamber of ideas), but this fact has existed as long as people have lived in groups. In some realms, this congregation effect is harmless. Take hobbies for example. For decades, car enthusiasts have been in the “Ford or Chevrolet” camps. Both can extol their beliefs about their brand, and increasingly don’t listen to the other side. But whether the division is harmless like that example or not, congregations create camps which can be the fermenting pot for division to become destructive division.
Labels
Fact: Labelling others is a thinking shortcut humans use to make the world less complicated.
Comment: While labelling is natural, it can be damaging. And the more people label those outside of their tribe or congregation, the less helpful and more divisive the labels become. From “those Ford guys” to “you know accountants” to “they are a negative Nellie,” labels are everywhere and most point to a difference from “us.” To prove my point, think about how you feel when you are labelled. Do you feel heard, understood or valued by the person or group labelling you? Whether the label is based on our choices, pigment in our skin, background or anything else, the label can become fuel for destructive division.
Trust
Fact: Trust impacts our ability to listen, hear, consider and believe other people.
Comment: We trust those we know. We trust those we understand. In the absence of those things (which congregation and labels don’t help us overcome), trust erodes or vanishes. When trust is low (or non-existent), motives are questioned, fear grows, and the chance for the understanding of differing perspectives is unlikely.
Disengagement
Fact: The less trust, the more likely division will become destructive.
Comment: If we are at this point from an organizational perspective, whether it is between departments, across organizational levels or within a team, productivity, retention, culture, mental health and results will be severely impacted.
Unfortunately, much division, led by political division has become destructive. Regardless of which political congregation you “belong to”, you can see these steps at play with the other group. If you can’t see it on your “side”, you aren’t looking hard enough. These thinking habits are impacting how people come to work.
Think carefully about these five facts and how they might be impacting your organization. This isn’t an individual thought exercise. Use this as a jumping off point for a determined dialogue to see how much destructive division is impacting your organization, and in what ways.
And there is good news here too. We can expand the congregation of our organization and focus on what we all care about, the goals of the company, the serving of customers as well – and when we do that, we begin to value the divisions in thought as a way to avoid labelling, build trust, and increase engagement.
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