Why it matters to surround yourself with people who see things differently

I read an article whose title could be put loosely as “Why it’s good to work with someone you can’t stand.” It sums up the main benefits of that kind of partnership, if you can call it that. The heart of the article is a short paragraph called “Smart is better than yes.” I’d like to add a few observations of my own on why it matters to surround yourself with people who hold different views.

Comfort has its limits

We instinctively feel more comfortable around people on the same wavelength who more or less share our opinions. People who agree with you can usually offer only limited pushback. Think of a recent idea you had, then try to work out how you arrived at it. You’ll probably find that what you think of as your original idea came from several things you noticed, perhaps even conflicting ones. Nothing is born in a vacuum. Like it or not, outside influences shape us, even when they make us uncomfortable without our realizing it.

An idea takes a roller-coaster ride

As the old Czech saying goes, roasted pigeons don’t fly into your mouth. Refining your thinking hurts because you have to defend it, especially when you put it to people who may disagree with you. I’ve already said that few good ideas are entirely your own work. An idea is usually a compound. It may be born spontaneously, but its life is a roller coaster with stages. You bring it out, shape it and let it go. Refining it is the stage I call shaping. How are you supposed to shape it with nobody to do it with? Running into someone who disagrees with you is far better than finding someone with no opinion.

Healthy competition gets people thinking

Different opinions encourage healthy competition. If everyone agrees, there’s nothing to prod people into thinking. Nobody comes up with new ideas, and things stagnate under the logic of “it stinks a little, but at least it’s warm.” Where views rub against one another, there’s room for new ideas to form. The two go together. It does have to be healthy competition. There’s a fine line between that and an ideological battle between supposed good and evil. That’s why people who disagree still need common ground and mutual respect.

A new angle

Different opinions open up different ways of looking at things. People who think alike often approach a problem from the same angle, and can easily miss crucial aspects because they’re invisible from that position. If you’re surrounded by people with different opinions, you stand a decent chance of seeing the problem from every angle. That goes back to the roller coaster, with different perspectives moving ideas back and forth.

Come to think of it, one easy way to surround yourself with people who see things differently is to write a blog of your own.