Some of us have lately been intrigued and challenged by this 18 min. TED Talk by CEO and entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan, titled Is Conflict Good for Progress? I suspect CFG members may be particularly interested in Heffernan's thoughts on the importance of recognizing and embracing the potential in disagreement. From Heffernan's talk:
It's a fantastic model of collaboration, thinking partners who aren't echo chambers.
I wonder how many of us have, or dare to have, such collaborators.
What does that kind of constructive conflict require?
I think we need to be teaching these skills to kids and adults at every stage of their development if we want to have thinking organizations and a thinking society. The fact is that most of the biggest catastrophes we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and out there but that we are willfully blind to because we can't handle, don't want to handle, the conflict that it provokes. But when we dare to break that silence or when we dare to see, and we create conflict, we enable ourselves and the people around us to do our very best thinking.
I first heard this talk as the final segment on a TED Radio Hour episode called Making Mistakes that also features ER physician Brian Goldman, professor, author and lecturer Brené Brown, and jazz musician Stefon Harris that further explores what we can learn and gain by reflecting on our mistakes. After Deborah and I discussed Heffernan's talk specifically, I know I started asking myself questions about how to encourage the embrace of conflict in my own classroom. By placing so much emphasis on connection and on building on each other's ideas, have I inadvertently created a climate where ideas that don't connect or easily slide together are avoided? Now that we've established relationships and community where the necessary trust and honor for one another is in place, how do we help children embrace the value of both connection and conflict?
This week we'll be treated to a picture into the work and growth Janet has been experiencing with Story Workshop in her classroom. I don't know about you, but one of the things I most cherish about Janet is her willingness to disagree, to state an opinion that she isn't certain will be embraced. I don't think of Janet as a person surrounded by conflict because she does all of this with a generous spirit and the humbleness of someone always wanting to learn. She is, however, someone I suspect understands some of the nuances of constructive conflict. I value her, and the rest of you, as members of our CFG community for the ways we are connected through this work but also through the ways we can challenge each others' thinking. Looking forward to seeing all of you on Thursday April 11th at 3:30 in the MHCR. May we find some ways to disagree!
