Dare to disagree?

I keep returning to Margaret Heffernan’s TED talk on constructive and creative conflict.  Her invitation (one with which I agree) is to consider conflict a creative conversation about difference. More than that she goes further – how about surrounding ourselves with people who are different to us…it’s a challenging concept.  Most of the time we like to surround ourselves with people ‘like  us’ thereby minimising difference in an attempt to avoid conflict.  It takes a degree of self confidence and assurance to be able to sit in the middle of this kind of disagreement and to think constructively about it.  What do you think?