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The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. Your Opinion Stinks! Delving deeper into contrary opinions stimulates creative thinking. In the past two decades, I have been dumped by two fr ends who d sagreed w th my po t ca op n ons. The f rst because he d dn t ke who I voted for n a pres dent a e ect on; the other because I refused to s gn a pet t on support ng a po t ca cause I d sagreed w th. At f rst, I was hurt because I had been fr ends w th both for many years; and I have a ways subscr bed to Thomas Jefferson s v ew: “I never cons dered a d fference of op n on n po t cs, n re g on, n ph osophy, as cause for w thdraw ng from a fr end.” Eventua y I earned the breakups sa d more about them than t d d about me. What I a so earned was, even f I cou d never come nto agreement w th someone, f I examned the r v ewpo nt n depth, I wou d f nd the very act v ty of t st mu ated creat ve thought. Isaac As mov noted, “Your assumpt ons are your w ndows on the wor d. Scrub them off every once n a wh e, or the ght won't come n.” It s ke c ear ng c utter from your garage, c oset, or desk - t opens up space for new th ngs to come nto your fe. I nterpret the “ ght” As mov s speak ng of as a the new connect ons you be ab e to make and new deas you be ab e to form when you expose yourse f to nformat on you re not fam ar w th. Ideas come from synthes z ng two or more ex st ng concepts nto someth ng brand new. The more concepts you have to cons der, the more new comb nat ons you can make. When shou d you de ve deeper nto a contrary v ewpo nt? Whether t s g oba warmng, abort on, guns, anma r ghts, government hea th care, or the New Wor d Order, when you fee so strong y about your pos t on your knee-jerk react on s to reject t out of hand, then you shou d spend some t me check ng your prem ses. Br t sh ph osopher, Bertrand Russe put t th s way, “The op n ons that are he d w th pass on are aways those for wh ch no good ground ex sts; ndeed the pass on s the measure of the ho der s ack of rat ona conv ct on. Op n ons n po t cs and re g on are a most a ways he d pass onate y.” I d sagree w th Russe that pass on acks rat ona conv ct on - I be eve pass on s what dr ves us to be creat ve - but exp or ng your own pass onate be efs s a good p ace to start. You may even f nd your prec ous be efs are based on fa ac es or fa se ev dence. Author Har an E son says, “You are not ent t ed to your op n on. You are ent t ed to your nformed op n on. No one s ent t ed to be gnorant.” Wh e you re fact check ng your be efs, keep n mnd Ayn Rand s words, “Contrad ct ons do not ex st. Whenever you th nk you are fac ng a contrad ct on, check your prem ses. You w f nd that one of them s wrong.” I m not suggest ng you g ve up your op n ons or attempt to change them by th s act v ty. The purpose of th s act v ty s to force yourse f to get a d fferent perspect ve. Ga n ng a d fferent perspect ve (regard ng someth ng n a new way) s the key to st mu at ng creat ve thought. P ck up any book on how to th nk creat ve y, and you f nd every exerc se offered has one goa - to force you to get a d fferent per- spect ve. A ow your fr ends w th contrary v ews to speak the r mnd. Encourage them to express the r be efs n great deta . By do ng th s, you are ke y to strengthen your re at onsh p w th them. Stud es have shown shar ng your op n on act vates the bra n s reward system, wh ch produces dopamne and makes us fee good. By mak ng that person fee good, they w ke you better, and then they may be more open to hear ng your op n on. As part of th s exerc se, ask yourse f: What s my fr end s mot vat on for hav ng th s op n on? What s the r goa ? Putt ng yourse f n the pos t on of another s the beg nn ng of empathy. You may f nd you both have the same goa s - such as peace and prosper ty for a - just d fferent approaches for ach ev ng them. V ctor Hugo wrote, “Change your op n ons, keep to your pr nc p es; change your eaves, keep ntact your roots.” A w ngness to make yourse f uncomfortab e by research ng contrary op n ons w put you n touch w th your fee ngs and he p you understand what your own mot - vat ons are n the op n ons you keep. Best of a , the new nformat on you uncover w prepare you to recogn ze opportun t es you wou d never have mag ned otherw se. Go on, open the pub cat on that makes you cr nge and read, read, read. Robert Robert is an author, humorist, and inno- vation consultant. He works with com- panies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert, visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com or contact him via e-mail to michele@ worldwidededrillingresource.com 17 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® APRIL 2016