Nudge 2: Brexit
The votes came in. The UK wanted out of the EU… apparently, they just didn’t know what that would look like. Two years on, it’s not much better than the day after the result, when the most Googled phrase in the UK was ‘What is Brexit?’
Looking at electoral results, the Kingdom hardly looked united on the decision, but majority rules. A persuasive campaign backed by the Tories and UKIP convinced many of the ‘Leave’ voters their ballot would improve immigration policies and lower its cost on services like the NHS. Everything else seemed rather vague.
In 2016, Vote Leave presented its roadmap to lay out what would happen if Britain left the EU. That plan was drafted by the party elite, and not open to input. It had vision but the action plan clearly wasn’t, well, clear enough.
Protesters flags in Westminster, London. iStock.com/oversnap.
Through round after round of negotiations, when things have gone awry, we see the limitations of a fixed mindset and foibles of rigidity.
Theresa May, and now Boris Johnson, have both been so focused on delivering the initial promise, they have become almost incapable of considering different perspectives and compromise. Is it a case of integrity or ego?
No person is an island – the world’s problems cannot be solved in isolation.
What are you willing to sacrifice for a win? And where are you forging ahead on your own, where you may be better off seeking other’s views?
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