The Death of Dialog?
This is a pitch to get you to pay a small amount of your hard eared lucre to be part of a movement. Not because you have to pay or join. You don’t. But I think you will want to after reading this.
It has happened to all of us. We reach a moment when there is nothing more to say. When we have —- as negotiators call it) —- “impasse” with another person. We say “enough!” exit the connection, and if at all possible, we move on. If we cannot move on, we are trapped in silence. We can no longer move the relationship forward. We can only hope for stasis. We go into “crisis avoidance”mode. We experience the “death of dialog”. Nicht gut!
This happens all the time on an individual level (one on one). And it happens on a cultural level (in groups). It is, btw, why we cherish our “freedom”. It is freedom to exit and start over again. The American dream!
But while freedom may be worth pursuing, exit comes with a price tag. And the more we opt to disconnect and exit, the more we pay that price. Economists would call that price an “opportunity cost”. It is the opportunity to share value adding experiences over time. That is why, at the end of the day, total freedom is boring.
If you agree that this can be a problem, you would also agree that it is in our interest to “max out” the opportunities we can squeeze out of potential connections. To get the most out of them, and only “push the exit button” when we are sure that we have to do it. To do it with regret.
So, as a second post in this newsletter, I would ask you, “Are you maxing out what you get from people?” If not, you will want to subscribe to this newsletter.
This is all about maxing out. And we all need to do that.