How to Realize a True Open Discussion (English)

It has been always said that open discussion is important.

Brain Storming is one of the forms of open discussion.

When we were small, we were told that we needed to accept others' opinion. We were told that everybody was different and diversity is important.

As I always say and wrote before, creativity is not something completely new but the connection of something already exists.
Therefore, open discussion is important because it promotes the connection of different ideas and consequently, generates creativity.

But surely, it is easier said than done.

I do not think people are having this "Open Discussion" at all in daily lives nor in political and business world.

Especially when it comes to ideological or emotionally sensitive matters, it is really hard to have a truely open discussion.

To some extent, we need to read between the lines and try not to say something which is socially unacceptable.

I believe that there are mainly two reasons responsible for this; Conviction and Emotion, both of which are really important part of our lives.

1: Conviction

As I wrote the other day (in Japanese...), it is considered a positive thing to have a strong conviction and strive for goals without doubting what he is doing. Doubt sometimes weakens one's energy for advance. A typical positive image of a "cool" man is someone with strong faith and will.

This strong conviction could be a strong obstacle for open discussion because it allows people to doubt his conviction. In other words, open discussion is a process of doubting. For those with strong conviction, open discussion could cast doubt on their conviction and consequently on their values, which is most important in their lives.

2: Emotion

We, humans, are animals of emotion as I wrote in this article. We think that our decision is based on our rationality but actually it's not.

Some opinions and arguments go completely against someone's emotion. Therefore, those with tender heart try not to harm others' emotion and do not dare to say something that could offend others' emotion. Also, those with strong emotion cannot accept opinions and arguments that go agains their emotion.

Here, I need to emphasize that I am not criticizing the role of conviction and emotion at all. Those are essential factors of our life. Without those, we are like machines. Thanks to those, we are humane.

But, maybe, sometimes it is good to power-off those functions intentionally so that we can have an open discussion.

Surely, this requires confidence among participants.

If all the participants trust with each other, real open discussion is easier because everybody there knows that other participants' argument does not have bad intention.

Seemingly radical and unacceptable arguments are sometimes proposed to benefit the whole group.

We need to accept others' opinion at least at once even if those are seemingly unacceptable arguments, not ignoring or denying those from the first place.

That is the true humility, which is the source of creativity.