Shake a Few Things Up

If there is no conflict, there is no change. If there is no one disagreeing with your ideas then why does anyone else need to be in the room? If no one challenges your concepts, thoughts, process or changes then why don’t you rule the world? Just because people disagree with you does not mean they do not like you, it means they think differently and see things from a different perspective. Clashing ideas is a good thing, a very good thing. What we have to do is to learn not to take it personally.

I worked in an organization that said they wanted to embrace change, yet in reality they wanted the same old ideas to look different but proceed in the same old ways. They talked about change yet were not willing to hear anything new, even though they sold themselves as innovators. It was a strange day once I realized what we really going on. I suddenly realized I didn’t fit in.

I worked in another group where people vehemently disagreed with each other in meetings. It was all out war! When the meeting was over they all went to lunch, exchanged birthday gifts and were the best of friends. It was passion and content at it’s best. No one took the arguing or emotions personally, everything was said to better the group, the product and the final deliverable.

Ideas need something to bump into in order to get better. When we are in conflict we learn, grow, expand our horizons and find out what we are willing to fight to preserve. In the land of status quo nothing changes and everyone always thinks the same way, what a boring and unproductive world that is indeed. Maybe today you need to shake a few things up in order to get your ideas moving.