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I greatly appreciate the mind of Seth Godin. Here’s what I read from him today:

“I’m sorry” takes guts

I recently saw two men arguing about who got to use the urinal next.

As a result, neither got what he wanted, and neither could honestly say that his day got better.

The need to win every interaction, the inability to apologize, the short-term over the long-term–this isn’t a sign of strength, it’s a symptom of immaturity and weakness that almost always leads to suboptimal results.

If apologizing engages the network and makes it more likely that we can stay in sync, it pays for itself many times over.

For years, so much of what passes for debate in our culture isn’t, well, debate. So often it’s simply shouting past each other. How many social media posts are titled “My political person just pwned yours”. We don’t value thoughtful discourse, the exchange of ideas, and the basic notion of respect. Right now, we’re about “winning”. And even the illusion of winning gives us a sense of satisfaction. This will not move us forward.

We will never work together, fully, as a society with this model. As long as we value this our divisions will remain. And whatever potential we have will remain unfulfilled.