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Chapter 9: How “Yes, And” Can Break a Political Deadlock

Chapter 9: How “Yes, And” Can Break a Political Deadlock

Last updated on: July 21, 2026 at 2:59 pm by Dorian Scott Cole

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Chapter 9: How “Yes, And” Can Break a Political Deadlock 2026-07-21T14:59:45-06:00 Dorian Scott Cole

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Open and Relational Theology & Social Psychology

The 60-Second Read
The Quest for Societal Protection

In Chapter 9, the students face the exhaustion of the front lines as they search for permanent structural stability. Visiting emergency shelters and legal clinics, they confront the brutal reality of temporary triage, which is a losing battle against zoning laws, shifting political administrations, and widespread systemic burnout. To break the gridlock, they must directly confront the local trade unions, whose protectionist boundaries threaten to stall their progress.

Deploying the transformative “Yes, and” conversational mechanics from Unleash Movements that Matter, the team sidesteps a war of ideology. By appealing directly to the union’s core identity of working-class solidarity, collective equity, and systemic fairness, they challenge the leadership to become part of the solution rather than defenders of the status quo.

The Insight: Pure logic and facts will rarely sway an entrenched institutional position. To breakthrough barriers to change, you must appeal directly to an organization’s core identity, framing your movement not as an external threat, but as the ultimate fulfillment of their own highest values.

The Action: When encountering deep protectionist resistance in your own projects, resist the urge to argue or persuade. Use the “Yes, and” technique to validate their operational considerations, then leave the problem in their hands as a constructive challenge to spark autonomous engagement.

The Task: Look at a stagnant problem in your environment where two factions are at an impasse. How can you reframe the conflict to appeal to a shared identification or a mutual ethical baseline, turning an adversarial wall into a cooperative bridge?

Themes: Identity Alignment, Systemic Burnout, and the Improvisational “Yes, And” Strategy.

The Series:

The Group. Gemini Generated Image

Chapter 9: The Quest for Societal Protection

The bus ride to the Vault was tense. Only Tane said hi to Loki. He met them all with a smirk, giving them a knowing look. “Unions won’t negotiate,” he said. “They’re hardheaded. They only care about their own workers. It’s useless trying to persuade them of anything.” Having said that, his smirk returned.

They ignored him as they would a fountain of green, slime-ridden muddy water.

Professor Torn greeted them as they entered. When they were seated, he asked, “Did you read Dorian Cole’s book, Unleash Movements that Matter: Break through barriers to change?”

The students nodded in the affirmative.

“It fits,” Tane said. “It’s pure social psychology. I can see how the ‘Yes, and’ method would change the conversation dynamic toward a resolution instead of an immediate impasse.”

“It really challenged my thinking on how to talk to people,” Madison added. “I never really considered the profound impact conversational style has. I mean, I see how I often say the absolute wrong thing and stop the other person cold in their tracks. The end.”

“Let’s keep that in mind as we proceed,” Torn said. “Where do we go from here?”

“I think we have to consider longevity,” Gerard said. “The natural evolution of most things is back toward chaos. We have students running all over the city trying to track down transient workers who move constantly. They’re going to burn out. This coordination might last most of a semester, but I would bet it only lasts a couple of months before they get exhausted by the work.”

“What’s the solution?” Torn asked.

“Permanent temporary housing,” Chaac said. “Get them off the street.”

“This would have another major benefit,” Tane noted. “Right now, they’re deeply stigmatized because they and their struggles are constantly in the public view. Get them out of the immediate public view, and cultural attitudes toward them might shift, making it far easier to implement a long-term solution.”

“Yeah,” Zaid agreed. “What the public sees is people who are dirty and in tattered clothing, sleeping on the streets in all kinds of weather. They see an eyesore no one wants to deal with. What they don’t see is the underlying cause of the displacement, which according to our Five Whys is exactly the lack of stable temporary housing. And the next level after this is capitalism’s uncaring attitude about people being removed from jobs, which equates for many to being removed from life itself. The safety nets fail. Public Value has ceased to be operational in maintaining human dignity. People wouldn’t even set their house plants out on the street like that. Biology is kinder than we are as human beings.”

“How do we get ‘permanent temporary housing,’ as Chaac so practically put it?” Torn asked.

Chaac laughed. “Well, it has to be a permanent structural asset because it handles a revolving door of temporary people.”

“I think we go directly to the non-governmental organizations who are actively fighting this problem on the ground and see what they think the systemic barriers are,” Madison suggested.

“Don’t forget, we have a meeting with local union leaders tonight at seven,” Torn reminded them. “I recommend we come with beer and snacks.”

***

They visited the Salvation Army first. Everyone in their group knew about their work and that they allowed overnight emergency stays.

They were ushered into a small back office where they waited until the director was finally free from his logistical duties.

“Sorry for the wait,” he said, stepping in. “It gets incredibly busy around here, and I’m always short-handed.”

They smiled warmly. “What all do you do here?” Tane asked.

“I’m an ordained minister. Many around the district call me Major Bob. But around here, I get to be the pastor, the administrator, the crisis counselor, the community center director, and the chief cook and bottle washer. Some of our unhoused families have babies, and clean bottles are absolutely essential. I can tell you from experience, I’m very good at washing bottles.”

They smiled at his sense of humor.

“I appreciate your resilience,” Zaid said. “That humor must come in handy when you’re very short-handed in a highly serious situation.”

“Want to volunteer?” Bob asked, raising his eyebrows with a grin.

No one responded immediately.

“I guess we want to help support the foundation,” Madison said. “We’re trying to engineer a semi-permanent housing solution for transitional workers. And we want your advice.”

Bob thought for a long moment. “I’m not sure what to tell you. We handle immediate emergency triage. What you’re talking about is a structural development the entire community has to anchor it. I can tell you the raw need is immense. We have to turn people away regularly because our cots are completely full, and it’s the exact same story with the church six blocks from here. There is no worse feeling in the world than refusing families food and a dry cot on a freezing winter night. But the city strictly regulates our building capacity limits.”

“How many people are we talking about on an average night?” Gerard asked.

“Maybe fifty show up. We can only legally accept thirty. A lot of them don’t even bother showing up anymore because they know if they’re late, we’ll already be full. So who knows exactly how many are left out in the cold.”

***

They moved on to Habitat for Humanity. The organization had been in the local papers recently for trying to purchase an old motel to convert it into stable transitional housing. They had even gotten an active Navy volunteer group scheduled to handle some of the construction work, but the city nixed the project. The “Not In My Backyard” neighborhood groups and surrounding commercial businesses objected heavily to the location, so the mayor stepped in and stopped it cold.

Seeking a deeper policy perspective, they called a regional alliance to end homelessness, which operated a dedicated legal clinic with volunteer lawyers who regularly sued cities over anti-camping ordinances and fought for public policy funding.

An attorney named Thad was filling in that afternoon and agreed to join them on a conference call at the Vault.

“What do you see as your single biggest systemic obstacle?” Tane asked over the line.

“No one wants to do anything. If you push hard enough, public officials will budge slightly, but the second they meet neighborhood political resistance, they snap right back. So we’re in a permanently adversarial posture. We have to litigate to make anything happen, and that consumes a massive amount of time and capital.”

“Well, places like the Salvation Army and Habitat are just putting bandages on the symptoms,” Zaid observed. “They provide problem maintenance that prolongs the situation without establishing a permanent resolution. We want to understand that political pushback so we can find a way around it.”

“Here’s the reality of the situation,” Thad warned. “Suppose you somehow get the city council’s and the mayor’s approval and secure the funds to secure a facility. In two years, another administration takes over. They have completely different voter priorities to satisfy. They don’t want the liability of the problem, so they quietly stop funding and zone your housing out of existence. It’s an endless, draining battle.”

“Humph,” Zaid muttered.

Momentarily, the group fell completely silent.

“Hello? Still there?” Thad asked.

“We’re thinking,” Madison said softly.

“Look, I don’t want to be a wet blanket,” Thad sighed. “But fighting for the unhoused is an endless task. Most people simply don’t have the stomach for it long-term. In fact, I’m about to pass my baton to someone else next month. People burn out incredibly fast in this effort because the resistance is constant, frustrating, and it’s deeply disappointing.”

“It sounds like we need a systemic solution that is completely insulated from standard political cycles,” Chaac said.

“Good luck with that. The current system doesn’t have a single reason to care.”

“Maybe we need to give them an economic one,” Gerard said.

“A positive value proposition they can actually get behind,” Tane added.

The call ended. Hope seemed like it was sitting on a distant horizon, just out of reach. They were going to have to work harder than ever to pull the solution into reality.

***

Later that evening, the two union officials entered the restaurant and found the students waiting in a somewhat secluded back booth. They introduced themselves as Trent and Benny.

Tane began, initiating the dialogue. “We want to thank you both for meeting with us. We know your absolute highest priority is protecting the integrity of the craft and ensuring that stable, negotiated slots stay secure for your members.”

“Exactly,” Trent said, sliding into the booth. “We have a strict apprentice program pipeline, and our primary mandate is to see the people who have paid their dues in that program get hired first.”

“Yes, and we completely agree with that standard,” Tane replied smoothly, utilizing the “yes, and” technique. “And we believe there is a way to reinforce your pipeline. The individuals we are working with are highly motivated, disciplined, and undergoing intensive screening. They wouldn’t be competing with your journeymen; instead, they represent a pre-stabilized pool of future candidates who understand the value of the brotherhood.”

“Right now, they are in a limited pilot program that doesn’t displace a single active employee slot,” Gerard added, keeping the metrics grounded. “They are clearing entry-level, temporary positions. But by providing them with this structural baseline, we are preparing them to eventually step up, meet your benchmarks, and enter the formal union pipeline as dedicated members.”

“We aren’t here to force an external mandate onto your halls,” Zaid said. “We believe an integrated partnership offers massive public relations value for the labor movement. It aligns perfectly with your historical perspective on economic inequality, the fair distribution of wealth, and the fundamental rights that working people are entitled to.”

Tane nodded. “Unregulated corporate capitalism frequently dumps human beings onto the street when their profit margins shift. The union has historically been the force that stands up for the dignity of the worker. We know diversity, inclusion, and solidarity across the entire workforce are what keep your organization strong. You’re the traditional champions of equity, ensuring that all marginalized workers can find a collective voice. Isn’t that the core of the mission?”

“Yes, I guess that’s true in principle,” Trent admitted, shifting slightly. “But we have a lot of members on the floor who don’t look at the big sociological picture. Their immediate focus is supporting their own families and protecting their wages. I don’t know that our leadership wants to take on the political risk of this fight.”

“Then let’s not make it an adversarial fight,” Zaid said, leaning forward. “All we want to ask is if you can take this back to your executive board as a challenge. Help us figure out the exact parameters of how the union can guide these workers safely from the street to the shop floor. It’s been an immense structural challenge for us, and it has forced us to rethink the entire architecture of the local economy. What do you think?”

“Since you put it that way, I’m not sure we can just walk away from the challenge,” Bennie said, looking at Trent. “I’m the shop steward, and heaven knows I need one more controversial thing to talk to the guys about on Monday morning,” he said, dripping with sarcasm worthy of any shop floor.

Trent looked down at his shoes for a long moment, tapping his fingers on the table. Finally, he looked up and let out a slow sigh. “I’ll take this back to the hall. It may not sit well with the old guard at all, or maybe the membership might actually run with it. I honestly don’t know. But I have to respect the sheer commitment of what you people are building here. I believe it’s an authentic calling, and I can’t argue with the underlying morality of it. We’ll back off our formal complaints for now and notify the mayor’s office that the union is not going to interfere with your pilot shifts. But keep in mind that could change if this goes sideways.”

***

After the meeting concluded and they returned to the quiet sanctuary of the Vault, they sat in silence, contemplating the sheer weight of the forces moving around them.

Madison finally broke the silence, looking across the table. “Zaid, something you said earlier today during the review really hit me. You said we wouldn’t even set our house plants out on the street to die the way the system does to people who lose their jobs. It really raises the most basic question: what kind of people are we? Do we actually believe in morality and ethics? Or is the capitalistic framework, which has no internal morals baked into its code, all we care about until it happens to us? Jesus said, ‘In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.’”

“What exactly did he mean by ‘the Law and the Prophets’?” Chaac asked, looking up from his tablet.

“In that historical context, it meant the entirety of the Jewish Bible,” Madison explained. “The entire foundational framework of justice, mercy, and right relationships.” If we don’t believe that, then the Bible is nothing to us.

Our answer is God. God’s answer is us. Together we make the world better.

Author’s Website with life and spiritual resources: Dorian Scott Cole .com

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About Dorian Scott Cole

Dorian Cole is a former pastor of a mainline denomination who currently is an author with an online publishing ministry. He develops courses for training or seminars. His publishing focus is new generations, and spirituality. With formal education and experience in several fields, including religion, technology, psychology, management, and movie production, he is cross-disciplinary in approach. He likes variety, creativity, and helping people develop. In course development, organizational settings, and writing, he uses social psychology to understand people, organizational problems, and helps them bring change. Attitude change is often essential. As a peacemaker, he tries to bring different parties together to work together to heal or resolve organizational and societal problems. He is ecumenical and works with other denominations in public efforts such as the Catholic Engaged Encounter, courses on understanding new generations, and is accepting of other religions. He has been happily married to his wife for so long he doesn’t need to count the years, even though she says he does, and they boast three adult children and their grandchildren and many pets. You can read more about the author here.

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Chapter 8: The Quest for Doing it Right