Connecting

Is polarization making life miserable? Are friends, coworkers and family able to set aside differences and enjoy time together or do gatherings have you walking on eggshells? In a world awash in ways to reach out, why can't we be better connected?

Humanity has used the same basic life skills to work together since the time people figured that their survival odds went up when they teamed up to hunt and gather. Instead of splitting into two camps with one arguing for sticks and the other rallying around stones, they worked together and came up with axes! In our time, merging different views to advance a bigger idea is becoming increasingly rare. "How do we get this done?" is being replaced with, "Whose side are you on?"

If our ancestors figured this out, why are we enduring deadlock? We have forgotten the basics of skills such as communication, conflict, and confronting. These are neutral capabilities that can construct bridges and fill in divides. We don't need advanced education or special training to practice these skills. If you need someone with an advanced degree to to understand how to get along, then the explanation is too complex and we are doomed. It is not that tough.

Connecting: Life Skills for a Polarized World shows how a few basic concepts can affect the way we think and act in building relationships. The nonpartisan stories illustrate how this all works, even when emotions run high. People will always have disagreements, but conflicting ideas can be used to cancel out biases and arrive at better answers if everyone fights fair. Whether you are a couple in a relationship, an extended family, a neighborhood, community or society, you can come to a shared understanding and build a place where everyone can live amicably together even with our differences.

In this first book, Joe Thompson fits the principles of life's most fundamental social skills into experiences that are unique - both uplifting and challenging - in other words, a lot like everyone's life. Thompson has taught these life skills to diverse groups of people ranging from a professional football franchise to small family businesses. His common sense approach to working together has been the foundation of his decade old business that helps teams perform using the simple framework in this book.

If this seems simple, it is because it is. People are not that different than our ancestors millennia ago, only our landscape and the tools that shape it have become more complex. We do not have to live with contention in our relationships if we are willing to suspend our disbelief and take a more straightforward path.