Why disagreement and divergent views are the essential raw material of collaboration, to be embraced, acknowledged, even celebrated.

Recently I was involved in a project to find a solution to a challenging policy question. While running a workshop with stakeholders I did what I often do and asked each of the 40 people in the room to write down on a sticky note what they think is the problem to be solved by this policy. As is always the case, within 10 minutes we had 40 quite different views of the problem (and some ‘solutions’) on the wall for all to see. We went to a lunch break and the client came up to me and said something like “that’s the problem. Everyone has a different opinion and we can never agree on anything!”.

Back in the workshop after lunch it was clear that the client’s view was widely shared. We disagree! We will never get alignment! This collaboration thing is doomed!

I understand this view, but I believe that the much bigger problem is that we see these differences as the problem. Because I’ve learnt that the 40 different views in the room are the raw material from which a great outcome will be generated.

As usual, my message to collaborators at this point is “isn’t it great that we all see this differently”. And I genuinely believe this for a number of reasons:

  1. Different opinions decrease the likelihood of ‘group think’ while making something novel more likely to emerge.
  2. The more differently we see this situation the more likely it is that we are capturing the bulk of relevant issues and concerns and opportunities. If we see things in a narrow way we are probably missing some important stuff.
  3. The fact that we see the situation differently makes working together more important. In other words, it builds the argument for more collaboration, not less.
  4. Inviting the difference helps us all see that we have a place in the discussion, that our views and experiences are relevant, even essential as part of the full picture.
  5. Acknowledging differences and working with them is a great way to build trust among collaborators. Listening across differences helps to build relationships.

So, the next time your collaborators express differences of opinion and are seeing things differently, you can feel ok to step into that difference and draw on it to create something that none could have thought of alone.