Disagreement is inevitable and impacts organizational performance and personal excellence. Fostering skills that help you disagree better creates opportunities to improve personal and organizational outcomes. Now, Washington Hospital Services is offering a five week virtual course taught by Harvard Kennedy School professor Julia Minson that leverages behavioral science and plenty of practice to improve your decision making and strengthen your relationships.
The course will help your disagreements become more respectful, productive and honest. This course will be offered in 2025 from Sept. 30-Oct. 28, every Tuesday 9-10:30 a.m. Participants can expect a blend of lecture, small group discussions, exercises to practice new skills, personality assessments and reflection.
Registration opens early January. Contact Jenn Bui for more information.
The Art and Science of Constructive Disagreement
In this new course, participants will learn the dynamics of interpersonal disagreement, how it turns into conflict and what to do about these conflicts. Based on insights from psychology, economics and decision science as well as learnings from expert mediators, this class offers a better grasp of disagreement and conflict psychology, as well as tools for managing such situations. By the course’s conclusion, participants will learn frameworks for thinking and communicating about conflict, and advanced their ability to disagree constructively in personal and professional relationships.
Course outline
Week 1: Identifying the challenges of conversations across disagreement
Week 2: Psychological biases that drive conflict
Week 3: Conflict de-escalation through effective inquiry
Week 4: Personal narratives and trust building
Week 5: Conversational receptiveness and the H.E.A.R framework
This course is perfect for anyone who works with others to make decisions, reach consensus on future actions, or give or receive feedback. Disagreement about deeply held beliefs can arise in any job, but the more you interact with others and rely on consensus, the more you need to manage disagreement and de-escalate conflict.
Instructor Julia Minson is an associate professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the founder of Disagreeing Better, LLC, a boutique consultancy specializing in communication and negotiation training. Her research has been published in top academic and popular outlets.
