Quotes about Discussion

So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas.

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”

Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.

When they reached Ephesus, Paul parted ways with Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews.

But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

When a group of intelligent people come together to talk about issues that matter, it is both natural and productive for disagreement to occur. Resolving those issues is what makes a meeting productive, engaging, even fun.

Another challenge in making strategic meetings work is the failure to do research and preparation ahead of time. The quality of a strategic discussion, and the decision that results from it, are improved greatly by a little preliminary work. This eliminates the all-too-common reliance on anecdotal decision making. The key to ensuring that preparation occurs is to let team members know as far in advance as possible what issues will be discussed during the Monthly or Ad Hoc Strategic.

3. How do you talk about and use the answers to these questions?

Arguments about Scripture achieve nothing but a stomachache and a headache.

By the very act of arguing, you awake the patient's reason; and once it is awake, who can foresee the result?

Civil debate is a healthy and democratic process. If one cannot make one's point without yelling, name-calling, or insulting others, one should develop a stronger argument before speaking further.