The Pink Elephant Promise is a reminder and an agreement between two parties in recognition that conversations of an important nature tend to provoke defensiveness and misunderstanding, while giving people the space and freedom to say what's on their mind.

The Pink Elephant Promise seeks to:

1. Eliminate the fear of criticism, apathy and/or rejection that shuts down communication.
2. Deter the natural, human knee-jerk response to judge or defend ourselves in the presence of disagreement and replace it with listening.
3. Elicit responsibility for feelings/interpretations, and facilitate expression of interpretations in order to eliminate misunderstanding.
   
   ("My interpretation of what you said is... " "No, what I was actually trying to say was... ")

THE PINK ELEPHANT PROMISE:

"There is something on my mind that I"ve been unwilling to express out of fear of either rejection or criticism. I invite you to a conversation invoking the Pink Elephant and request that, in oing so, we both recognize that this is an issue that is being brought up only with the goal of strengthening our bond and trust; that we agree to listen to each other without anger, judgment, or defensiveness; and that we allow this conversation to act as a basis for further discussion, so we can understand, explore, and learn from eacho other's perspectives."

THE PINK ELEPHANT PRINCIPLES

1. The intention is to strengthen the relationship.
2. Take responsible for your perspective.
3. Express your concern.
4. Come away with an understanding of the other's perspective.
5. Ultimately recognize both perspectives and come to a mutual understanding or alignment.