Build Trust - Stop making compromises, and start building consensus
How many times have you been in a meeting where two or more parties agree to compromise, only to see that compromise fall apart almost immediately? The engaged parties simply either do not trust each other, or feel that they gave away too much in the proposed solution. This is why you have to start working beyond compromises to reach consensus. This will likely mean that you have to work a lot harder to get to a solution, but the benefit is that the solution might actually work! To reach consensus, you have to go beyond merely identifying the contentious issues, and get to their roots. This will require you establish a safe place for people to honestly and openly communicate and hash out their issues. Conflict avoidance is easy, but will prevent you from reach the consensus you seek. Therefore, do not be afraid to adjourn meetings until both sides have time to reflect, throw in unrelated ideas or introduce new players. The goal is to get to everyone on board, even if you have to spend time going back to fundamentals. Without a solid foundation to begin with, you will spend a huge amount of time and effort rehashing the same arguments.
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