From the course: Navigating Complexity in Your Organization

Unlock the full course today

Join today to access over 22,400 courses taught by industry experts or purchase this course individually.

Understanding does not equal agreement

Understanding does not equal agreement

From the course: Navigating Complexity in Your Organization

Start my 1-month free trial

Understanding does not equal agreement

- Last year I had the unique opportunity to train a team at a Navy base in California. It was my job as a trainer to enhance communication skills with an all-day workshop. During our first break, I noticed that few had left for coffee and group of about six were staying behind and deeply immersed in a conversation. It was a team of engineers and rocket scientists. Some were seasoned subject matter experts and others had recently graduated with their PhDs. It was a roomful of very intelligent people, and they were arguing. I'm not sure what they were arguing about and I'm not sure they did either. Each person was trying to persuade the others of his or her opinion on the matter. They talked over each other, interrupted each other, and were frequently dismissive of each other's point of view. And this was a team that worked together daily on very important issues. While the discussion was lively, there wasn't much…

Contents