David M. Kelley Quotes

Our best comes out when we have honest discussions.

We cannot have that relationship if we only dictate or threaten and condemn those who disagree.

I try to build up people, not break them down, and in politics, it seems now the game is breaking down your opponents.

Debate is healthy and no one in this chamber - starting with me - has a monopoly on being right.

Direct confrontation, direct conversation is real respect. And it's amazing how many people get that.

Don't organize in the spirit of antagonism; that should be beneath your consideration.

I have never believed you make your case stronger by bad-mouthing your opposition.

As I've grown older, I've grown more convinced there's nothing that shouldn't be talked about. If we think we're protecting each other, we're not.

There does not seem to be that collegiality I referred to, there seems to be much more of a them versus us attitude, rather than we all have a role to play in this process so let's get on with it.

Let us agree here today to adopt among ourselves a simple and unwritten rule. We will not rise to criticize someone else's idea unless we are prepared to offer an alternative idea of our own.

We experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can't come up with real lasting solutions!

Trust leads to approachability and open communications.

We can argue and we can disagree, but we don’t need to poke our fingers in each other’s eyes in order to get our points across.

If yelling and threatening, intimidating and chanting solved problems, Illinois wouldn't have any problems. We're good at that stuff.

There must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone's ideas and opinions. These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf, and must remain private... When everyone is on the same page, trust develops, and teams can grow and succeed together.

What I've learned - after working for, I guess, some time now - is when you're approaching a relationship like that, like, any working relationship, it's good to be open. To know that someone might have a different way of doing things and listen to them. And hopefully, you come to a common understanding.

I'm willing to sit down with anybody and have constructive criticism.

I always want harmony within the band. I want it to work.

When team members trust each other and know that everyone is capable of admitting when they're wrong, then conflict becomes nothing more than the pursuit of truth or the best possible answer.

Listen, talk, be respectful of people - and make sure that you have openness to where people are coming from. And you don't do anything that is unnecessarily antagonistic, that is only going to make you feel good because you've done it.

The key is that when we disagree, we really hear the other one out and agree that there is a more elegant solution than one of us 'winning.'

Collaboration is about listening to someone else and adding your own feelings about that thought.

it’s important to make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds." - Barack Obama, 44th U.S. President

A huge part of making something work is getting along with people you work with. You want them to succeed; you want them to bring their ideas to life as much as possible.

Collaboration is being open to each other's ideas and benefiting from each other's perspectives in an open way.