When discussing an idea or topic, I like to always evaluate the different perspectives available. I have my personal views, but I often play devil’s advocate to stress test the idea, if nothing else.

However, that does mean I tend to disagree often, whether it’s due to me really having a philosophical difference, or not.

That being said, once we’ve fully explored everything and discussed the topics that we disagree on, the hard decisions have to be made, and we commit to those decisions. This means that even if I don’t agree with the idea, I’ll commit and support it.

A good discussion on this topic is this podcast episode by 37signals, along with the clip below.

Applied in my projects

There are projects when I’m the final decision maker and many times when I’m not. I’ve always found it mildly amusing to see many people chase after the power or rank, but I view the role of the final decision maker as a burden of responsibility. After all, if I’m the decision maker, the buck stops here.

I accept and embrace role of the decision maker when I feel the best suited person for the project, but when someone else can embody the position better than I can, I’ll gladly take a back seat.

RubyCoded

Similarly in RubyCoded, Jenxi and I disagree on many topics, but we’ve always respected each other’s opinions and when the decision is made, there has never been any resentment or lingering unhappiness, we just own the decision together and move forward as one.

I’ve been wrong and made so many mistakes and bad decisions over the years, and fortunately for me Jenxi has always been a much nicer person to not hold it against me.

Final thoughts

Accepting differences in opinions and not just agreeing to disagree, but to being able to embrace and support a decision that I may not agree with is something that has helped me grow over the last few years, and I aim to continue refining this throughout my journey.