Senator Inhofe, staunch opponent of the very idea of global warming (and, perhaps not surprisingly, senator from Oklahoma), calls for a look into the impact of soot on the environment, causing everyone the beltway to raise a collective eyebrow.
Now, a call for research does not a supporter make, but this does show why you should resist the temptation, when up against an ardent foe, to dig your heels in. Once in awhile, when the opportunity to find common ground comes along, you want to make sure you can take it.
The process of patiently and respectfully searching for opportunities like this—as opposed to escalating the situation, yelling and screaming, engaging in ad hominem attacks, or beating someone up—goes by many names. Some of those names are “acting like a grown up,” “maturity,” “level-headedness,” and, yes, “politics.”
Those who can engage in this behavior know that they won’t jump to agreement in one move. Agreement comes over time, through a process that allows both sides to work through their respective issues.
How would you respond to Inhofe’s bill, if you were on the green team? Would you be able to resist the temptation to cry out, “I told you so,” or announce victory for your side? Would you have the sense to agree to his call for action and then say nothing more?
Would you have the savvy to call him privately and suggest the two sides work together to ensure that the study was done impartially?
And what of The Guardian, running a story that puts Inhofe on the spot for doing something out of character? If we want compromise and level headed adult behavior out of governing body, we should be giving them the latitude to seek middle ground, no? And not punish them for being less extreme (in this case, with the odd article)?
How often do you make it difficult for someone to change his or her mind, or to come down from an initially extreme stance? How much easier would your life be if you cut people some slack?!
Many lessons here to take into the workplace… many lessons.
 | Enjoy this blog? Listen to my new podcast, Beyond Social. |
I'm Jason. I make people shine. My mission is to help 1 million people tell their stories better. 
{ 1 trackback }
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The same lesson applies to a child who doesn’t like a certain food. Often the reason that the kid is afraid to try it is that she’ll be admitting that she’s wrong.
Take away the pressure, and the kid will be like, “Oh yeah, I like that now.”
Or she’ll spit it out and say yuck.
I guess it’s in us from birth to act like this.
“Yielding – which is a result of humility – is an essential element of enduring. Standing fast can sometimes be a formula for destruction. The oak, lacking the ability to bend in the hurricane, is uprooted. The reed, which yields to the wind, survives without a problem. Do I know when to yield, out of strength not fear? Why am I often unable to yield?” – Simon Jacobson http://www.meaningfullife.com/
Michelle, that’s the most appropriate bit of eloquence I’ve seen in a long, long time. Great quote, thank you.