To be more objective, use role-playing exercises to argue against your ingrained opinions and become an active listener. Look for neutral territory to find workable solutions and discuss controversial topics objectively.
Very few people go their entire lives without taking a single position on an issue or forming a strong opinion on any topic. Indeed, for many of us, life itself is filled with polarizing decisions: conservative or liberal, religious or non-religious, rich or poor, orderly or messy, type A or type B, and so on. It can be quite difficult to be more objective when objectivity is required, such as evaluating a business proposition or determining the guilt or innocence of a defendant.
One way to be more objective is to use role-playing exercises. Imagine facing yourself in a debate about a very polarizing issue, such as the use of capital punishment. You may have already formed a strong subjective opinion on the matter, and as far as you are concerned, the matter has been settled. To remain objective, however, you may want to do the same research an opponent would do before the debate. By constructively arguing against your ingrained opinion on a sensitive topic, you will often find enough reason to be more objective in the future. Fully understanding opposing opinions and underlying arguments should help you feel less grounded in clichéd or flawed counter-arguments.
Another way to be more objective is to become an active listener. Too often a person will find themselves “reckoning” with someone equally passionate about an opposing position. Instead of waiting for silence to intrude on an obvious response, it’s usually better to listen more actively to what the other person is actually saying. You may also need to acknowledge that he or she has made some good points. This active listening exercise can help you maintain objectivity by viewing the discussion as an exchange of ideas and opinions, not a series of canned responses.
Sometimes a desire to be more objective is really a desire to be less judgmental of those with opposing viewpoints. Most people have strong opinions on certain issues that affect their lives, and it is not your job or responsibility to make fundamental changes in your belief structures. What you can do is look for neutral territory that both sides can agree on and work from there. By defining the core problem or concern without spin or bias, you can be more objective in finding workable solutions. Even controversial topics such as abortion rights or gun control can be discussed objectively. as long as both sides are in agreement, the real problems go beyond the controversial practices themselves.
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