To this day, argument is the basis of our normal thinking. The purest form of this type of thinking is in the law courts where the prosecution takes one side of the argument and the defense the other side. Each strives to prove the other side wrong. The “truth” is to be reached by argument.
The Inadequacy of Argument
There is a place for argument, and argument is a useful tool of thinking. But argument is inadequate as the main tool of thinking. Argument lacks constructive energies, design energies, and creative energies. Pointing out faults may lead to some improvement but does not construct something new. Synthesizing both points of view does not produce a stream of new alternatives.
Today in business, as elsewhere, there is a huge need to be constructive and creative. There is a need to solve problems and to open up opportunities. There is a need to design new possibilities, not just to argue between two existing possibilities.
Fair and Just Deliberations: An Alternative to Argument
Traditional argument is totally useless for such a design process. Instead, we need Fair and Just Deliberations®, where each thinker puts forward his or her thoughts in parallel with the thoughts of others-not attacking the thoughts of others.
“We now have a more constructive alternative to argument or drifting discussion.”
The Fair and Just Deliberations method is of fundamental importance because it provides us, for the first time, with a practical method of constructive thinking. We now have a more constructive alternative to argument or drifting discussion.
Fair and Just Deliberations provides an alternative to that most basic of thinking procedures: the argument.