Look for ways to overcome mental blocks.
If you try to get people to stop drinking the impure water from the local wells, you may find the residents responding, “My mother gave me water from this well; are you saying my mother was wrong?”
If you want to break with the past, that kind of question has to be reframed.
Instead, you can show how impure and dangerous the well water is in contrast to how safe the purified water is.
Then you can ask a completely different question to them “Which water would you want your children to drink?” New question, very different answer.
In life changing the point of reference makes a big difference.
When high rise buildings became the norm, especially in America, like the Sears Towers in Chicago, building beyond 80 stories high. The residents residing or the office people working in such high-rise buildings started complaining that the elevators were too slow, because it was talking multiple minutes for them to reach their floor on the high rise.
The elevator manufacturers did the best they could to improve the elevator speed, while maintaining the required safety standards. The residents and the office goers were still not satisfied.
On interacting and observing the elevator users, the elevator manufacturers realized that the elevator users perceived the time taken to reach their destined floor was longer than the actual time it took. The reason why the elevator users perceived the time taken to be longer than the actual time taken, was because they felt bored and restricted while they were travelling up in the elevator. The elevator manufacturers started putting mirrors in the elevator and playing music which engaged the elevator users and soon they were satisfied.
So, from time to time, especially when we feel stuck in a situation with another person or in life, changing the point of view or the reference will unhinge us and enable us to move and overcome the blocks.
I personally feel that listening to interviews of successful people from different backgrounds and in different situations in very helpful for us to see different points of view.
I suggest watching the interview of Nelson Mandela by Oprah Winfrey. During the interview, which Oprah later on labeled as the interview of her life time, I was inspired by how Nelson Mandela realized the importance of forgiving his oppressors.
He realized that until he forgave his oppressors for the injustices of the past, although he was physically free, he would remain a captive mentally and psychologically. For him to be free, free at-last, he had to forgive his oppressors-first. He said he made the choice to build his country, instead of making his country flowing with rivers of blood.
Listening to such great interviews will give us points of references, so when required we will succeed in changing our points of view which will enable us to make progress.