The Role of Debates for a Healthy Organisational Culture

Comparison is significantly inborn in human beings. Society desires to pick the best out of personal interest or benefit and compare that with the alternative they would have chosen. This scenario occurs in every area of our lives throughout our lifetime.

As a child, we slightly compared our father and mother, different colours, our house and that of friends, etc. On a societal scale, this comparison is drawn between two similarly related phenomena. Coca-Cola is great, but wait and hear what Pepsi fans have to say. What about McDonald’s vs Burger King? Did you know that Michael Jackson has his comparison, Prince? iPhone vs Samsung, green apple vs red, Marvel Movies vs D.C., And the list goes on and on to Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo at the professional football level.

So why the comparison? There’s more to it than simply the desire to pick and drop. Researchers are now starting to explore the many biological and psychological mechanisms that could influence our comparison.

However, the two theories that come to mind are natural selection and ‘Natural selection’, which was popularised by Charles Darwin. This theory explains how organisms better adapted to their environments produce more offspring to transmit their genetic characteristics.

Secondly, the ‘Binary System’ is one of the four types of number systems. It is represented by only two symbols or digits: 0 (zero) and 1(one).

If this is the case, I advocate for society to embrace the tradition of good arguments, which encompasses how to have a good debate - particularly in organisational settings. This goes back to the period of?Antiquity, where the ability to make your point persuasively and engage other citizens in discussion and debate was considered a requirement of citizenship in ancient Greece.

Because that is what it meant for us to govern ourselves, this tradition continues from that generation to the present, with many of the founders of education and politics starting debate clubs in learning institutions. To view part of their roles as leaders and to instil those views in the nation.

I draw on the lessons of?Bo Seo, a two-time world debating champion and the author of?Good Arguments.?To summarise three ways organisations and society can strengthen debating skills to start having healthy arguments.

1 - The importance of training

He suggests that to host public debates that enlarge our understanding of what is possible, we have to start training. The training has to begin by training young people and ourselves to engage in those conversations.

2 - The importance of format

In this lesson, he believes that people should be given a long stretch of time to present their arguments, knowing that once they have spoken, the other person will speak, and they will get another turn.

This gives room for elaboration and critical thinking before answering or asking questions. More so, it shifts the audience from perceiving debates as entertainment to an avenue to broaden their knowledge.

3 - The importance of relationship

A relationship with someone you disagree with is?greater?than just the disagreement itself.?He?advises that introducing the family to one another, seeing the other areas of life, and doing?other?things together outside work settings can often enlarge the possibility of what you do within the debate.

This is significantly true because no one can hate a friend or family member simply because they have a different opinion.

In conclusion

Debates are only as good as the information, knowledge, and skills that debaters bring to them. However, according to Bo Seo, one of the more concerning things we witness is people’s information diets not being sufficiently varied and rich to sustain the?kinds of?conversations we want in society and organisations.

As an organisation, we cannot allow the debates we see on television, google, or social media to be a replacement for the disagreements we should have in our day-to-day lives. The?biggest?advantage of Google is also its?biggest?disadvantage.?Being able to?get information quickly and?easily?is a significant advantage.

To start rebuilding the skills of a good argument, we need to enrich our knowledge and information sources. There are authorities on every issue. Take your time to read what they have written about the issue.

Furthermore, we usually need to have face-to-face arguments. We might need to do?it?in the absence of an audience to resist the urge to perform for an audience?but rather?listen and respond to the person across from us.

Many thanks for reading my perspective and giving feedback.

My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

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