CELEBRATED DIFFERENCES

"Exclusiveness in a garden is a mistake as great as it is in society."

Alfred Austin 19th century English poet

Good to remember in this era of divisive politics.

There is strength in our differences.

YOU AND ME

"People are pretty much alike. It's only that our differences are more susceptible to definition than our similarities."

Linda Ellerbee 20th/21st century American journalist

We downplay the latter while emphasizing the former.

We'd be better off were it the opposite.

YOUR WAY, MY WAY, THE RIGHT WAY

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking."

George S. Patton, General US Army WWII

Differences of opinion must ultimately be resolved if there is to be unanimous, or close to it, support for whatever is to be done.

Just not initially.

In the beginning the task is to identify the right way, created from bits and pieces of all possible ways.  

Crazy Or Eccentric: A Very Thin Line Of Difference

"The world thinks eccentricity in great things is genius, but in small things, only crazy."

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

19th century British politician

And since most great things begin as small things, the task of every manager is to determine which they are dealing with before it is apparent.

Success From Different Perspectives

"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle."

Walt Whitman

19th century American poet

So you see, more than the sum of the parts can come from opposites.

But you have to look for it.

Do you?

The Best Of . . . . ?

"The course of true love never did run smooth."

William Shakespeare

16th century English playwright

Is the test of "true love" the same for business partners?

Relationships: The Role of the Individual

"As a general thing, people marry most happily with their own kind."

Robertson Davies
20th century Canadian playwright/journalist/professor

Professor Davies was referring to marriage between two individuals but I think this applies equally well to business relationships, which after all, consist of people.

To what extent do you consider individual differences in business relationships that involve you?

Vive la Différence?

"Our greatest strength as a human race is our ability to acknowledge our differences, our greatest weakness is our failure to embrace them."

Judith Henderson
Author

"Embrace", "accept", "adopt" . . . all the same?

I don't think so and choose to substitute "learn from" for "embrace".

What about you?