Late one night in a Central-California hotel, a traveling salesman invited us to join him for a beer.
“Where you from?” he asked.
“Pacific northwest,” we said.
“So … Democrats, then,” he replied. Satisfied he’d gathered, in a single question, all the evidence he needed to size us up as ideological opponents, he changed the subject to sports.
This is the spirit of the age, nicely summed up by The Onion headline:
“STEREOTYPES ARE A REAL TIME-SAVER”
Of course they are. Because, honestly, who has the time, let alone the need for real conversations when simpleminded stereotypes will do?
Who indeed….
The 3Practices emerged as a feat of reverse-engineering. Over decades, we observed, and eventually described and named the habits of people who cross the difference divide — repeatedly and on purpose. Not only do these people have time for real conversations, they’ve decided they don’t have time anymore for conversations that aren’t real.
In 2017, we started leading 3Practice Circles, first in Seattle, then across the country, in order to prove that it’s possible to have substantive, civil conversations with ideological opponents.
We lead Open 3Practice Circles where anyone is welcome, we lead Hosted 3Practice Circles where folks can introduce the 3Practices to people in their spheres of influence, and we lead Private 3Practice Circles for businesses, civic groups, religious organizations, schools, and universities.
We train others to lead 3Practice Circles, too, because we can’t be everywhere … nor do we need to be. When people see what goes on in a 3Practice Circle, some of them think, I could learn to do that. Yes, they could … and can … and do.
[Jump to 3Practices.com]