I often spend time reflecting on situations in my day that haven’t necessarily gone that well and consider how I could contribute to them going better in the future. One such reflection led to a bit of a revelation all be it a very common sense one at that.

My realisation was about a minor conflict I had with a colleague at work who disagreed over a certain matter in office. I had a very specific view and he held a strong contrary view that I naturally disagreed with. I calmly but firmly stated my view point and he calmly stated his view point. It was clear that we were going nowhere with the topic and thankfully someone interrupted us, diverting the conversation to a new topic. I’m glad as my blood was beginning to simmer!

What I failed to realise was that he had a valid point and we needed to find a way to accomodate both of our requirements. I could have tried to offer an opening for dialogue so that we could find a common solution to the problem that would suit both of our needs! This would have led to a win win solution about a topic that was in all fairness very trivial and petty. But it can so easily end up with a war raging and big fall outs.

So from now on, rather than just trying to get my own pig-headed way on things, I’m going to try to see things from other peoples point of view a bit more and try out the win-win strategy!

Dan