“We always admire the other fellow more after we have tried to do his job.” --William Feather (1889 – 1981), American author and publisher

An age old problem in business is how individuals work together. I’ve had several leaders say to me, “If we didn’t have to deal with all of this stuff, we could concentrate on running the business.” The “stuff” in question is human dynamics—what makes individuals and teams work; and, what most definitely gets in the way of productivity and performance.

One way to begin to address many interpersonal conflicts is to help people walk a mile in the shoes of the other party. While this can be accomplished through job shadowing, it can be time-consuming to get a full appreciation of what the other party contends with on a regular basis.