Let’s look more closely at the concept of forces in opposition that must be kept in balance. We talked last week about the three Cs: considerations, concerns, and constraints. Of these, concerns may be the most important. Considerations are the foundation of collaborative work, but no one will be ready to share their considerations until the battles over process values have been won and people are ready to be collaborative. Constraints are critical, but they are found by the proper treatment of evidence and inference. That is perhaps the last battle.

Concerns are worries about forces that are acting on the situation. Concerns point to forces that have to be kept in balance. For example, some people are concerned that having a social safety net makes people dependent on the government. Others are concerned that without a safety net people will die, or at a minimum become more of a burden on their neighbors than if early intervention had nipped the problem in the bud. These concerns are the opposing forces that must be resolved if we are to come to consensus on a position on social welfare. Different societies through history have come up with different answers on how to balance these opposing forces. The one we have adopted in America today may be one of the worst in history, magnifying the bad of each force without getting much of the good. That’s what happens when you compromise on positions instead of balancing concerns – balancing opposing forces.