Disagreeing Agreeably

"We cannot have that relationship if we only dictate or threaten and condemn those who disagree." ~Zbigniew Brzezinski

When you have disagreements, or differences of perspective, and you will, remember that you are entitled to your view, just as others are entitled to their opinion. One of you does not have to be wrong for the other to be right. In order to consider disagreeing agreeably, and moving forward with a collaborative, professional approach, please consider the following expressions:

• "You may be right." vs. "You're wrong."
• "That's possible, and..." vs. "No way!"
• "What would you anticipate out of that?" vs. "That won't work."
• "While we attempted something similar in the past, how would this be different?", vs. "We tried that before, and it doesn't work!"

Utilizing these statements before the "vs." comment will likely lead to agreeing on something eventually, rather than simply agreeing to disagree...and isn't that more appealing and productive in the long run?