Why Opinions Ruin Everything, and How to Stop Them

You can reduce meeting time and stress by teaching everyone the difference between opinions, perspectives, insights, and understanding.

There is nothing more beautiful or more powerful than coming together to solve a problem. When we get frustrated, infuriated or slightly homicidal during a meeting, it is because something is getting in the way of solving the problem at hand. Ironically, the worst resource for solving a problem is also that which is most abundant: opinions. Opinions represent our worst collaborative habits. Habits which, if we can learn to break, will greatly increase our collective productivity.

Anatomy of a Problem

A problem exists in the absence of understanding. Problems cause us pain. If we understood them, we would have already solved them. If we have not solved a problem, we must not understand it.

“But wait!” you say, “I know what my problem is!” That may be, but knowing about something does not mean you understand it. I know my head hurts, but I probably don’t really understand the biology behind my headache. If I did understand the biology behind my headache, I would be able to take action to avoid it or stop it. If you have a lingering problem, it is…