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Getting Along With Others Ain’t Easy

“I can see we’re going to get along like a house on fire,” said Miss Tick,

“There may be no survivors.” Terry Pratchett

    Theodore Roosevelt was credited as having said, “The most single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” Samuel Goldwyn, pioneer American film producer and executive of several motion picture studios, added his opinion that “Ninety percent of the art of living consists of getting along with people you cannot stand.” If getting along with people is so important to success, why can’t we just get along? The reasons we don’t always have a meeting of the mind with others are varied, complex, and even mind-boggling.  

     For Example:  A wife who’s been alone with the baby all day gets irritated when her husband comes home and doesn’t sit right down and tell her every tiny detail about what went on around his job that day. Your much-loved boss retired, and his replacement is a young, know-it-all college graduate, who is making life miserable at work with his “I’m all that and a bag of chips” attitude. A neighbor gets irritated and turns you in to the HOA when you leave your sprinkler on for fifteen minutes after the assigned watering times. Your son decides to blow off college in order to tour the country as the bass guitar player in a band. The woman at church who has been in charge of the monthly Wednesday night family dinners for eight years doesn’t need anyone else to help out in “her” kitchen. All of this begs the question: Why don’t we get each other?

Having spent over three decades pondering this question as a college instructor, there are some basic reasons keeping us at odds with each other. However, some of the most successful people have learned a few principles that clear up the muddy water under the bridge leading to becoming a master communicator at your business, social life, and perhaps most importantly, in your family. That’s why I’ve written training programs for corporations, businesses, and individuals in order to help us as we navigate through life with others. That’s what this blog is intended to do for you. So, get ready to successfully cross the communication bridge with me!