Two ways to understand

I was recently speaking to a fellow runner about the issues I had with my back. Much to my surprise, I learned that we had traversed the same path - we had visited the same hospital and gone to the same physiotherapy clinic. This isn't someone I share a great kinship with but for those few minutes, it felt easy to let my guard down knowing that someone had been through what I was going through.

A lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding stems from the fact that we aren't able to relate to another person's background or story, or see where they're coming from. Management guru Tom Peters says the other person is always 98% hidden from your point of view. A lot of our biases and conclusions are made without even bothering to understand the person sitting across the table.

The easy way to understand is to try and find people who have had similar experiences. This isn't a feasible option.

The other way to understand is the tougher one - to put aside prejudices and preconceived notions.

While it isn't seen as one, understanding is also a skill.