Change One Word
The world’s worst compromise might actually be the world’s best collaboration. Words matter because the framing tells the story you want to tell. By changing one word you can change everything.
Yesterday, I told my neighbor that the color & decor in my home is a compromise between my wife & I.
I then immediately thought about how adversarial that word sounds.
COMPROMISE: an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. [YUCK]
I could have easily said it was a “collaboration”, right?
COLLABORATION: the action of working with someone to create something. [YUM!]
As a matter of fact, you could call just about anything that involves give and take as being a “collaboration” and not a “compromise” between two or more people.
Words matter because the framing tells the story you want to tell. Just by changing one word you can change everything.
Plus, compromising is exhausting. I’m going to stick to collaborating from here on out.
