Two sides might not be enough

When thinking about important issues or situations, we’re encouraged to consider both sides. What are the pros and cons? What are the arguments for and against? 

And while pushing ourselves to consider different perspectives is important, it’s important for us to remember that not everything is a duality. 

If we naturally fall on one side of a an issue, we might consider the counter argument just to pressure test our thinking – but we rarely take a 360 degree look at the issue from all the angles. 

360 thinking on a topic might seem like a luxury – it certainly takes more time to consider than taking just one or two perspectives – but it has a power that we often overlook. Many issues, particularly the important ones, have a variety of perspectives that are beneficial for us to understand if we want a fulsome and nuanced understanding of what’s going on.

In fact, 360 thinking can be most powerful when applied to issues where it seems like there are only two sides. It creates space around the direct opposition and allows groups a better chance of finding common ground. 

If we want to build better understandings of the world around us, then we need to take the time to observed it in a more comprehensive fashion. 360 thinking isn’t a panacea, but it’s a great thought experiment to expand our horizons and become better thinkers.