Find common ground in the mission, not by changing minds.

principle — attributed to Seth Moulton

Moulton's congressional partnership with conservative Republican Steve Russell of Oklahoma worked because they did not try to change each other's minds. They were both Iraq War veterans, which was the common ground. From there, they could co-sponsor unpopular positions like advocating for Syrian refugees, which neither party's base supported. The principle is operational. If you go into a working relationship determined to convince the other person of your worldview, the relationship breaks before any work gets done. If you go in looking for the patch of mission you already share, you can build from there. Persuasion is downstream of collaboration, not upstream.

For political coalition-builders, bipartisan negotiators, and cross-organization leaders. The principle generalizes to corporate alliances, family businesses, and any high-stakes relationship.

alignment, mission, persuasion, shared-goals