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By Marilyn Odendahl

The Indiana Citizen

April 26, 2024

The political fights that are dividing the country are seeping into the American workplace so, rather than complaining about management or discussing weekend plans in the break room, employees are increasingly confronting each other over politics.

Studies and surveys are charting an escalation in problems that political polarization is causing at work. A 2022 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found 45% of U.S. workers said they had personally experienced political disagreements at work, up from 42% in 2019. Also, Gartner’s 2023 fourth-quarter emerging risks survey of nearly 350 senior business executives found their top concern after generative AI availability was escalating political polarization.

To help calm the tempers among coworkers, Business for America is starting the Disagree Better at Work campaign, an offshoot of the Disagree Better initiative launched in 2023 by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. The Disagree Better at Work project, according to BFA, is designed to provide businesses with information and tools to address the political toxicity that has crept into the workplace and made employees less collegial and less productive.

“Let’s not forget that businesses are made up of people,” Sarah Bonk, founder and CEO of Business for America, said. “At Business for America, we talk all the time with civic-minded business leaders who recognize the risks of polarization and are deeply concerned. If Americans cannot figure out how to work together, despite our differences, it puts the future of our entire nation at risk.”

Bonk introduced the Disagree Better at Work campaign at a webinar on Thursday for business leaders. Her guests included Cox who talked about why he started Disagree Better and what he hopes the initiative will do.

The Disagree Better effort has captured the interest of other governors, including Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, one of the political leaders appearing in video ads promoting the program.

However, Cox’s push to reduce the polarization has drawn criticism from Utah lawmakers. Utah Republicans say the governor is advocating that they abandon their morals and beliefs in order to get along with others, while Utah Democrats assert the governor is appealing to our better angels on one hand, then turning around and signing controversial bills that are harmful to transgender youth and the environment.

 Cox acknowledged the criticism during the webinar and told the business leaders that they may encounter dissent as well, when they promote Disagree Better at Work.  From his experience, Cox said, individuals on the conservative side of the political spectrum bristle at the idea of disagreeing better seeing it as a “go along to get along” compromise, instead of standing behind the principles in which they passionately believe. Those on the liberal side are resistant to engaging with people who, as Cox said, “don’t think (they) should exist.”

The initiative, Cox said, is not about ignoring our differences and just being nice to each other. Instead, the goal is to have people find ways to profoundly disagree and stay true to their values without having hate and contempt for those with opposite views.

“We may, again, have some different political beliefs, but generally we want the same things,” Cox said. “We love our families. We care about our country. We want to make it a better place. We just go about it in a different way.”

Appealing to the ‘exhausted majority’

Cox launched the Disagree Better campaign when he became chair of the National Governors Association in July 2023. As chair, he could highlight any issue he wanted during his tenure, but, he said, as he and his team looked at the pressing needs of the country, including health care, inflation, and energy, he realized that political polarization was inhibiting the nation’s success.

“As I was dreaming about how we can problem solve together … I just came to the stark realization that was overwhelming every idea that we came up  with (and) that is we can’t solve any of the nation’s biggest problems if we all hate each other,” Cox told the webinar audience of business professionals.

The data he reviewed, Cox said, showed that “toxic polarization” was leading the country “in a very dark direction.”

Although he was uncertain how Disagree Better would be received, Cox said many other governors are supportive of the initiative. About 20 governors have participated in some way, including making video ads with another political leader from the opposite side of the aisle to promote the Disagree Better idea.

Among the ads is one made by Holcomb, a Republican, and former Sullivan, Indiana, mayor Clint Lamb, a Democrat. The video shows the two Hoosier leaders sitting down to a hearty meal at a diner and talking about how they set their political differences aside to help Hoosiers rebuild when tornadoes swept through southwest Indiana in 2023.

Holcomb told The Indiana Citizen, “I always feel compelled to add my voice to the list of other governors who are waking up every day trying to find solutions in such an otherwise polarized world. I’m hopeful our simple, straightforward message will resonate with others, especially elected officials, because as Hoosiers and as Americans, we all can learn how to disagree better, if our aim is truly to make positive progress.”

Cox may have had some hint that Disagree Better would gain support from the reception given to a political ad he and his Democratic opponent, Chris Peterson, made in the late stages of the 2020 Utah governor’s race.

The video forgoes upbeat music and compelling images, and shows Cox and Peterson, dressed in suits, standing beside each other and talking to the camera. They explain that while they disagree, they respect each other and they would accept the results of the November election – regardless of who won.

Not only did the ad gain international attention – Cox said he and Peterson fielded interview requests from media around the world – it had a beneficial impact. A study by Stanford University, examining 25 interventions to reduce partisan animosity and anti-democratic attitudes, found the Cox-Peterson ad ranked high for reducing support for partisan violence and also undemocratic practices, such as overthrowing an election.

Cox said the success of the ad gave him some insight into the American electorate.

“What it showed me is that there really is an exhausted majority out there that is hungry for something different,” Cox said. “There’s a market failure happening with both political parties right now. The first political party to figure this out, I think, is going to do very well, but neither of them seems interested in it yet.”

Consequently, he said, the work of grassroots organizations and business leaders to decrease the polarization is even more important.

“Hopefully with what you’re doing and so many other bridge builders (are doing),” Cox told the business audience, “we’ll swing that pendulum back where it needs to be.”

Dwight Adams, a freelance editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.

The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org