I was struck by an article in Bits & Pieces magazine about how the Wright brothers fiercely argued over every decision -- so much so that acquaintances wondered how they could keep working together.

It is common knowledge that Orville and Wilbur Wright battled doubt, lack of money and gravity on their way to aviation history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. What is not widely known is that they succeeded precisely because they challenged each other.

Mark Eppler, in his book “The Wright Way,” writes that the key to the brothers' intense arguments was that they were not anger-driven.

As Wilbur Wright put it, “Honest argument is merely a process of mutually picking the beams and motes out of each other’s eyes so both can see clearly.”

Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde supported the Wright brothers’ logic when he said: “The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.”

In other words, it’s fine to change your mind after listening to all sides of an argument. There may be issues you didn’t consider, or information that you were unaware of. There may be a better way to deal with a problem that you hadn’t considered.

I’ve always felt that debate or argument is healthy. Whenever I’ve had two employees disagreeing over something, I’ve always tried to listen with an open mind and learn different viewpoints. It can be very helpful in decision-making.

One important thing I’ve learned is not to play favorites. You must give both sides a fair hearing. You cannot go into a situation with a predetermined outcome or you will lose your credibility. You must treat everyone and their viewpoint respectfully.

A study at the University of Michigan found that a little arguing now and then is actually good for you, if done for the right reasons. The results showed that when people experience tension with someone else -- whether their boss, spouse or child -- sidestepping confrontation could be bad for their health. Avoiding conflict was associated with more symptoms of physical problems the next day than was actually engaging in an argument.

A manager’s job is to provide the experiences that will develop his or her employees’ leadership skills. Experience is the best teacher for leadership development. Chief among them is learning to handle differing opinions.

One strategy might be to put the employee in charge of a work group whose members have strong, widely ranging opinions about how to handle a workplace issue. Tell your employee not to pick a “correct” course of action when opinions conflict, but to lead the group to a consensus that everyone can support.

Another challenge to prepare for is the difficult employee who produces good work, but doesn’t interact well with others. Discover what motivates that employee and help him or her channel their talents into better relationships. Reinforce the notion that differing opinions are welcome and even necessary, but need to be respectfully presented.

I read an article about how couples should fight for their relationship, not to win the argument. I think it also applies to the workforce. Every relationship, no matter how happy, suffers its share of conflict and argument. If it’s going to endure, both parties need to know how to fight fair. Follow these rules for arguments:

-- Address issues promptly. Don't let resentments simmer. If something bothers you, bring it up within a reasonable amount of time (48 hours or so).

-- Treat each other with respect. Refrain from name-calling, accusations and absolutes like “You always” and “You never.” Keep your voices calm, and make an effort to really listen to the other person’s point of view. Or as South African cleric Desmond Tutu put it, “Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.”

-- Keep it private. Don't argue in front of others. If necessary, make an appointment to discuss the issue.

-- Don't let it drag on. Try to set a time limit for resolving the issue. Most arguments shouldn’t last more than 15 minutes.

So, the next time you find yourself in an argument or debate, treat your opponents the “Wright” way. Treat them like family.

Mackay’s Moral: Great minds don’t always think alike.

As everyone who is in business knows, the customer is always right. The customer who isn’t always right is also not your customer. I’ve yet to see a business that can survive without customers.

I often hear stories that go both ways on customer service -- the good experiences and the “what were they thinking?” moments. I’ve written and spoken extensively on the fundamental importance of stellar customer service, even when you’re not sure the person you are dealing with is ever going to be your customer. And I frequently use anecdotes to illustrate my points.

One of my favorites involves an animal, not a human, customer.

Elephants never forget, or so they say. A man who had gone to the circus as a small boy made a return visit years later. He was sitting in a cheap seat when an elephant came along, reached up into the stand, wrapped his trunk gently about the man and carried him over to deposit him gently in the best seat in the circus tent.

The man turned to his neighbor and said, “The elephant remembered that the last time I was here, years ago, I fed him peanuts.”

Just then the elephant came back, lifted his trunk, pointed it straight at the man and blew a stream of water in his face.

“Oh!” the man said. “I forgot I gave them to him in the bag.”

Elephants and customers both have long memories.

In that vein, I like to share this story of a local meat market that has three or four clerks waiting on customers. One of them always has a line of customers waiting for him -- even if one of the other clerks is available. One day, a visitor asked the always-busy clerk the reason for his popularity.

“The other clerks,” he said, “always put more meat on the scale and then take some away to arrive at what the customer ordered. I always put less on the scale and then add to it. It makes all the difference.”

Closer to home, my sister Margie shared an experience she had when flying with a veteran employee of Alaska Airlines. Not only does that company have (in my opinion) the coolest graphics on their aircraft, it is also consistently ranked highest in airline customer satisfaction among traditional carriers in by J.D. Power and Associates. Alaska's bragging rights include a long list of travel industry awards.

Margie’s seatmate explained that the airline “goes above and beyond to pick employees in all fields that can each be described as a ‘people person.'" Its philosophy is that it can train someone to do their job, but it can’t train them to be a true people person unless they already are.

This attitude even extends to when employees are flying on their airline: they request a middle seat so their customers can get the better aisle and window seats. Alaska was the first airline in North America to sell tickets online and the first in the world to allow customers to check in and print boarding passes via the Internet. Very customer friendly, don’t you agree?

The company website acknowledges this commitment to customer service: “Whenever the history of commercial aviation is written, people ask how an obscure little airline in America's hinterland has continued to survive and thrive while once-proud giants disappeared. Grit and determination will be part of the answer. However, more than that, it's our people. Their caring, their resourcefulness, their integrity, their professionalism, and their spirit.”

Back in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune recently featured Natalie Foltz, a Lyft and Uber driver who wanted to make a difference for her riders, “even if it was just getting them to crack a smile.”

So, she started giving handwritten notes to her passengers, inspirational quotes from famous authors and others she wrote herself. She even started a Facebook group for her riders that became an online community. One of the many messages said, “Thanks for the uplifting note today, and it was on green paper, my absolute favorite color. Thank you for taking time and brightening my day!”

Natalie says sharing the notes is the best part of her job. Make sure you and your employees share Natalie’s attitude.

Mackay’s Moral: It’s not about what you can do; it’s about what you will do.

Creative ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. Those ideas often involve taking a risk or challenging conventional thinking. And that can be daunting to those who are perfectly satisfied with the status quo.

But in my view, creativity is a trait that should be celebrated and encouraged. Innovation never happened by supporting the same old, same old.

We can’t imagine living today without the benefits reaped from some bold, creative thinking. Fortunately, determined innovators prevailed, often in the face of mass indifference or mockery. But here are a few prime examples of what might not have happened if folks listened to the naysayers.

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us,” according to a Western Union internal memo dated 1876.

Silent film star Charlie Chaplin said, “Moving pictures need sound as much as Beethoven symphonies need lyrics.”

An engineer at IBM in 1968 commented on the microchip, “But what is it good for?”

The aeronautical engineering department of Cambridge University's response to Frank Whittle, after viewing his pioneering designs for the jet engine, “Very interesting, Whittle, my boy, but it will never work.”

“Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night,” said pioneering American movie executive Darryl F. Zanuck.

Phil Wrigley, one of the owners of the Chicago Cubs, said about night baseball in 1935, “Just a fad, a passing fancy.” (In 1988, the Cubs at last started playing night games.)

“The personal computer will fall flat on its face in business,” said Ken Olsen, president of Digital Equipment.

Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express, was said to have received the following response from his Yale professor on a paper outlining his idea for an overnight delivery service: “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.”

Beware if you hear yourself uttering these statements. They are the most likely to kill creativity:

-- It's not in the budget.

-- The boss will never go for it.

-- Great idea! Let's form a committee to tackle it.

-- It will never work.

-- That's against our policy.

-- Who will we get to do it?

-- Let's think about it for a while.

-- Let's discuss it some other time.

-- Why not leave well enough alone?

-- It's too late to fix it now.

-- It's too soon to fix it now.

-- We have done it this way for so many years, and we still make a profit.

-- Why fix it if it isn't broken?

-- We tried it five years ago and it didn't work.

-- That's not how we do things around here.

-- That's the kind of idea that cost your predecessor her job.

-- It will take a long time to research this idea.

-- That's not my job.

-- The competition already does it that way.

-- The competition doesn't do it that way.

-- Let's let the competition try it first and see what happens.

-- That isn't in our job descriptions.

-- If we do it, they'll wonder why we didn't do it sooner.

-- It will create more work for the rest of us.

-- Sounds like a good idea ... Let's run it by legal. (OK, so this actually might be necessary.)

Mackay’s Moral: Don’t be afraid to be creative -- be afraid not to be creative.