Geoff and Tom were arguing. Geoff wanted to solve the climate crisis by focusing on the biggest problems. Tom was focused on the many details everyone could step in. He was describing all the things he had changed in his life to contribute to the planet and was highlighting how this was much less of a challenge than he had thought before. He wanted Geoff to follow his suggestions but focused his arguments on making it the right thing to do for the planet. Geoff on the other hand kept reminding Tom of how this has been a long evolution and how important it was to involve the big players.

As I was following the conversation I could see how both of them had the same objective in mind. But they never realized that. As focused as they were on their solution, they couldn’t step back to verify each other’s objectives. They could only see that the solution the other had in mind didn’t feel as good as theirs. They couldn’t see that they were also worried, that the other solution wouldn’t bring as much progress as they thought necessary.

Their reasoning was built on their respective situations, their experience, and many other details they had not made themselves aware of. All of them made it reasonable to think as they were.

Arguing as they were, there is a good possibility, that they were also hoping that the other would agree with them. It would have helped them confirm that their reasoning was the right one.