The differences were small. If one was cynical you might classify the comments and questions as petty. Given that I had already finalized several other steps, my intent was to resolve the differences without changing anything. As things progressed, we hit a roadblock where everything came down to one sticky point.
From my vantage point, it was a possible issue that had no practical way of ever coming to life. As a colleague stepped in, it was interesting to step back and listen to another hear us present our cases. Point and counter-point.
As confident as I was that there were only two points of view, our colleague presented a third. As I listened, I realized he was right. Even in the fading sound of his voice, I wondered if I was the one misreading a document I coauthored! As I thought about the words on the page with an open mind, I realized you could read it one way or another with equal validity.
As we all reached a consensus on the matter, I paused. The resolution process was divine.
All parties were heard. Everyone walked away thinking that “he listened so intently as I laid out my case before him.” (Psalm 116.2) We were confident that we had been heard.
In listening, trust and openness followed. We thought we had the facts. In the end, we discovered another way to see and understand what was in front of us. Listening created the opportunity for trust and openness.
What started as a resolution of differences morphed into a dialogue and ended in a consensus. Our differences did not require either of us to compromise. Being open to more was the opening that was created by trust that emerged from being heard and intense listening.
Our conversation ended on a good note. Nobody had given up anything. We walked away with more. Not all differences lead to this outcome. The fact that even one of us was open to it created the possibility that everyone could be engaged and in the end, win.
It took one.
