Danielle left the house with just five minutes to spare. It would have been better if she had left ten or fifteen minutes early because she wanted to stop and buy a cup of coffee. She decided that she could probably get in and out of the coffee house within seven minutes and that being just two minutes late to work was perfectly acceptable. Then Danielle drove to the coffee house.
Do you and the people you work with share the exact same beliefs, perspectives, priorities and goals? Probably not. Hmmm, I guess that means you are going to experience conflict. Conflict is a condition in which people’s concerns appear to be incompatible. In fact since you and your co-workers are not intellectual and emotional clones of one another, conflict is inevitable. Conflict is a natural byproduct of our environment.
"Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day." --Zen Proverb
As with most Zen proverbs, the quote above is both complicated and simple. The concept is beautiful in its simplicity. You can benefit by learning something new every day. You can benefit by letting go of memories and beliefs that are not serving you.