As human beings we tend to be drawn to, and favour, people like us – who share the same values, beliefs, outlook on life. Who think like we do. It’s comfortable and comforting.
Yet we also know that embracing difference – extending our learning and understanding of the world – whilst confronting, may be helpful.
We see opting for sameness play out not just in our social circles but in the workplace, recruiting people of similar attitudes and views and maybe building a team in our image. This may assure a smooth and conflict-free life but is likely stunting the growth, creativity and output of the team
The friction that arises from difference initiates change and generates better outcomes and we know that being out of our comfort zone is where learning and growth happen.
‘Dare to Disagree,’ the brilliant and well-viewed TED talk by Margaret Heffernan exemplifies the value of challenge. In it she talks about the idea of thinking partners – people we engage with to stretch our thinking, to offer alternative perspectives and even actively disagree with us.
As leaders it is a way of operating that we should be encouraging, starting with ourselves and making sure that our thinking partner is a truly alternative choice rather than a usual suspect.