07/21/2025

How to Listen to Opinions You Fon’t Want to Hear

Sometimes, the opinion you least want to hear can be the most valuable

It has become popular to say that we want to have a diversity of opinion represented in workplaces. We want people to speak up when they disagree with an approach or have a unique viewpoint on how to address a complex problem.

While we say that in the abstract, there are many individual and group psychological factors that act against this ideal. We are often resistant to opinions that differ from our own and are more critical of evidence that contradicts our beliefs than we are of evidence consistent with it. We also have negative emotional responses to information that goes against what we believe. We are also more reluctant to say things that we think others in a group will not want to hear. Ultimately, people often have a powerful urge to believe what others in their social group also believe. To be successful at taking in diverging opinions, then, you have to fight against these factors.

Listen without Reacting

One of the most difficult parts of hearing an opinion that differs from your own is to allow someone else to say everything they want to say before chiming in. There is a tendency to want to pick apart someone else’s beliefs and arguments before they have even had a chance to say what they want to say.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.