Eight Is Enough!

No, this isn’t about the TV show from the late 1970s about the Bradford family. Governor Spencer Cox spoke at last week’s Utah League of Cities & Towns convention about the challenge he and other Governors have made to all of us through their Disagree Better Initiative.

Apparently, our Governor thinks we need to do better at communicating with each other about city issues. Good idea, but I think the Initiative is mislabeled, at least in part. Its main goal is that by disagreeing better we will knock down barriers and open doors for real communication and problem-solving. Now that’s something to strive for.

The Governor recognizes we are going to disagree on lots of issues, but we should disagree in a way that allows us to find solutions and solve problems instead of endlessly bickering. He asked us at the convention to take his Disagree Better Initiative home and share it in our communities.

One of the handouts at the convention was “The Dignity Index.” The Index scores our communication along an eight-point scale from divisiveness and contempt (1) to respect and dignity (8). So, how are we doing in Ivins? Well, I don’t think we’re consistently hitting “8” yet. Fair statement? Nice goal though. Worth working towards.

The point of the initiative is we’ll all benefit from working together, especially when we have differing perspectives. When people with different views put in the effort to work together to solve problems, we end up with better results. We’re facing a lot of important and complex issues right now, so this seems like a good time to work on this.

Here’s a summary of the Dignity Index. There’s a lot more information in the “Dignity Index Scoring Guide” (click here to download).

A Summary of the Dignity Index

• 8. Each one of us is born with inherent worth, so we treat everyone with dignity – no matter what.
• 7. We fully engage with the other side, discussing even values and interests we don’t share, open to admitting mistakes or changing our minds.
• 6. We always talk to the other side, searching for the values and interests we share.
• 5. The other side has a right to be here and a right to be heard. It’s their city too.
• 4. We’re better than those people. They don’t really belong. They-re not one of us.
• 3. We’re the good people and they are the bad people. It’s us versus them.
• 2. Those people are evil. They’re going to ruin our city if we let them.
• 1. They’re not even human. It’s our moral duty to destroy them before they destroy us.

Next Step

Where each of us is on the Dignity Index will probably vary from day to day and topic to topic. So, whether we’re communicating at level 3 or level 7 right now isn’t the point. The point is, can we do better? What can we do to communicate at level 8 all the time, or at least more often? You tell me. How do we get there?