Long before Dr. Gary Weitzman took over the San Diego Humane Society, before he stood in front of an audience at this year’s Animal Care Expo, he went to a bed and breakfast hotel in Maine. And it was there, when he missed breakfast because he was overwhelmed by the sound of people in the dining room, that he had a profound “Aha! Moment,” an instance of mental clarity  that often comes when we least expect it, but leads us down a path of inspiration.

His “Aha! Moment” was about human interactions, how we work together, and what can get in the way of cooperation. Speaking at a Maddie’s Fund session, he told attendees:

I think it’s time that we stop talking about “we need to build coalitions and we need to build collaboration.” Don’t we all know that? We all do and we all try to do the best job we can with it. But I think we have to acknowledge some really important differences.

The differences go back to when we were young. High school, the most fun time of our lives, high school. We are built to be rivals. We are built to compete. We have school rivalries. We have sports rivalries. We are just built to be apart and to try to be number one all the time. In spite of the fact that we are in the same school, we are after the same missions.

This is the exact same thing in animal welfare, too. We are all driven to save lives. There’s no more compelling mission in the entire universe. And also I would posit there is no more complex group of people or profession than animal welfare people…. [How] many words do we have to describe what we do? Limited admission, open admission, managed admission, municipal organization, government organization, 501(c)(3), adoption contracts. We have it all.

So rather than having them be merged into one thing, we should just embrace we have different ways and different tools to actually get the same thing done. And I think we can save lives really well by actually acknowledging that there are those differences. And we don’t have to be one. We don’t have to give up what we believe in and what our organizations are based on. We have to just embrace that those are all of our differences.

“Great ideas happen all the time,” Dr. Weitzman said. “The only challenge we have is not to ignore new ideas when we see them. Never miss an ‘Aha! Moment,’ and, more importantly, never fail to share it.”

View Dr. Weitzman’s complete 17-minute talk below, and stay with us for more Aha! Journeys!