Rescuing Ourselves From the Argument Culture →

Linguistic anthropologist Adam Hodges, writing for the American Anthropological Association:

Trump is in the White House because our argument culture helped put him there. To ensure his tenure remains an anomaly…we must replace our notion of argument as combat with the notion of argument as dialogue.

This shift, he argues

… starts with deep listening in a spirit of inquiry, exchanging ideas with an openness to new insights, disagreeing with respect rather than denigration, and offering ideas rather than vitriol.

As a general rule, I shy away from political commentary on this blog and prefer to keep my opinions to myself. Yet, I think Hodges makes an interesting observation that has broader application.

This ‘argument culture’ isn’t isolated to just our political institutions. I advocate a similar shift within organisations.