Put Yourself in Our Shoes

I walked past a shoe shop which had a sign in the window which read, ‘Put yourself in our shoes’  I’ve thought about that since and wondered, What impact could that simple saying have, if before we got into arguments, fights or even wars, we first of all sat down and tried to put ourselves in the shoes of those who are opposing us.

Edward De Bono points out that we have a usual ‘argument’ or ‘adversarial’ thinking model in which each side seeks to attack the other.  He recommends that opponents should try looking in the same direction. In other words, they put themselves in each other’s shoes.

Putting yourself in other peoples shoes totally changes the dynamic of how we look at differences.

If you’re in a conflict situation. Maybe before you go any further you should try looking at the situation through the eyes of your opponent. Try putting yourself in their shoes.