Conversations...

I suspect that the reason my friend's strategy worked so well with his father is because it started with my friend listening. He paid attention and then checked with his father to see if he had heard him correctly. This allowed his father to acknowledge that he had been heard or to respond with a corrected statement of what he thought was the problem. That simple negotiation set the stage for discussion that expanded to the many possible solutions. I always thought this was an elegant way to have conversation with people of different persuasions. It is the conversation that is important, not the agreement on details. Sent January 27, 2017