Margaret Heffernan, the author of the book Willful Blindness delivers this incredible TED talk I just watched. In this brilliant talk, she shares the story of Dr. Alice Stewart from Oxford who was the first doctor to find out that the X-Ray of the pregnant women was the leading cause of Cancer in small children.
Margaret, in this talk, shares that, even though plenty of evidence, research results and public records were produced by Dr. Stewart, the authorities of European and American medical establishments took 25 years to abandon the use of X-Rays of pregnant women.
It is a fantastic talk with loaded information about the human tendency of avoiding conflicts. I watched this video a few times and I encourage you to watch for yourself!
A few of the highlights of Margaret's talk I would like to paraphrase here that you might enjoy as well when you hear:
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Dare to have thinking partners who aren't echo chambers.
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Constructive conflicts thinking requires that we collaborate people who are very different from ourselves and find ways to engage with them.
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If we aren't going to be afraid of conflict, we have to see it as thinking.
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For the most part, organizations do not think. It's not because they don't want to, but they can't. And they can't think because the people inside of them are too afraid of conflict. They are afraid to raise, afraid of change, they can't think together.
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Openness alone, can't drive change. Openness isn't the end… it's the beginning!
If you are in the position of leadership or aspiring to be in one, you owe it to yourself to watch this 12 minute video. It will give you a completely a new perspective on conflict management and why it is important to have partners who are not afraid to challenge your thought process.
Question: What did you like the most about this video? Please leave your thoughts in the comments now.