Makes Sense

I recently read a book that tells the story of how the world's first user-friendly personal computer came into existence. In it, the author describes a method of conflict resolution practiced within the group that developed the computer:

PARC's leader, Bob Taylor, had an especially deft way of resolving those conflicts that did surface. He employed a mediation model that eliminated the divisive win-lose element from arguments and substituted the goal of clarification. Taylor would urge people to move from what he called a Class 1 disagreement, in which neither party could describe the other's position, to a Class 2 disagreement, in which each side could articulate the other's stance. (Organizing Genius [Bennis] 122)

The method sounds incredibly simple, even a bit hokey, but it draws exactly upon the difference between a debate and a discussion that I talked about in an earlier post. I really don't understand why such a method of discussion isn't made more intuitive in our education system.