10% of bad takes
Here’s a simple thing I am trying to do more often: to give everyone a 10% allowance of "bad takes". Sure, my definition of "bad" will differ from yours. But the point is simple. A few things feel naive to me:
Thinking everyone we know will have the same opinions as us
Thinking people with "bad opinions" don't deserve our attention
Thinking people with “bad opinions” always deserve our correction
So sometimes I choose to ignore all these things, including the "deserve our correction" part. Especially if this happens online. Face to face is different, more contextual, tone comes into play, you can have a decent exchange. But even then, I’m trying to not always correct other people’s views.
It feels more productive to listen and understand them, instead of simply jumping to correct them. I know "anti-woke" people who I don't agree with, but understand why they think what they think. I ask questions about it, without judgement, even if inside I’m thinking "what planet are you on?”.
When I do this, I notice two things happen. First, I develop a greater tolerance for uncomfortable questions. Second, I learn to ask more questions before countering with my views. So that, if I do offer a counter-view, I am tackling things with the right level of knowledge of how they think. Instead of simply making assumptions because, let’s be honest, we assume things all the time.
And these two things, I would argue, are important psychological and emotional traits of an effective strategist. I’m not saying we should listen blindly to what others say. I am saying we should listen and absorb it, before defaulting to simply trying to convince them our worldview is better.
So I wonder if this is a practice you might want to try as well. What 10% of "bad takes" would you be willing to tolerate? And even if they feel uncomfortable, what are specific questions that help you unpack the topic without creating unnecessary defensiveness? The point of this isn’t to avoid having hard conversations, it’s to make hard conversations more productive.
