For or against? Break open debates by looking at a range of options instead

Hi, 

I’m convinced that nearly everything we tend to think of as a Yes or No question, On or Off, Always or Never, can instead be seen as a spectrum. 

It’s a welcome way of looking at things, because it makes room for nuance, for alternative insights, and for seeing that while others may be “on your side” of the spectrum, they almost always still look at things in a subtly different way.

Just how good is that good idea?

Take that thing the team’s considering. Is it a good idea or a bad one? Both answers are right, depending on your perspective. Make it into a scale and you might hit on something illuminating that makes a meeting of the minds possible.

How sure are you?

This next scale is something I came across in The God Delusion, about the question “Does God exist?” Of course this isn’t the place for debating that issue, but it got me thinking about the impact of having an absolute opinion. It makes conversations difficult, if not impossible.

But if you take this scale of possibilities as the topic of discussion, then you’ll see that standpoints have a way of shifting, of moving toward one another.

How much does it matter?

The third scale is another good one: the scale of “not giving a f*ck”. I learned it from the design team back when I worked at Blendle. They would sometimes get into heated discussions about a particular design choice or what direction to take.

Until someone asked, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how invested are you in this issue?” People realized they’d take on a standpoint and defend it relentlessly, when it turns out the whole issue wasn’t really that important to them. Pulling out this scale broke open the discussion in a fresh and effective way.

Have a good week, 

Rick

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