What Place Do You Come From?

I just returned from moderating a dental focus group (male and female general practice dentists) that revolved around a philosophy in dentistry, rather than a product or service. My conclusion does not only pertain to dentists, but most people in this world.

In my heart of hearts, I believe people either come from a place of YES or a place of NO.

People who come from a place of YES, don’t immediately shoot down ideas. These are people who are involved, interested, questioning, optimistic, willing to help others and inquisitive. People who come from a place of NO are people who are steadfast in their ways, don’t want to be bothered from their normal routines, tend to bark out orders, tell people what they think without open discussion and are negative.

I dealt with a lot of YES dentists in this focus group. They were eager to see how they could grow as clinicians. They were eager to take on new challenges, even though they didn’t have the details worked out yet.

The NO dentists were vocal in stating that the way they learned dentistry years ago is good enough for them now. They professed to read up on and study current literature, but when asked to discuss that topic further, they shut down and barked defensively. Each time a question was asked of them, they put up an invisible wall that made it harder and harder for me and them  to meet on common ground.

What do you think about this YES/NO theory? Is it possible that people could come from a place of MAYBE?