Knowing Me, Knowing You

It’s important to understand worldviews when figuring out approaches to redesigning work. It’s not that anyone is judging - we aren’t. It helps us communicate better. If we communicate better, we create better strategy, we adapt to change better and processes and procedures are streamlined and improved.

An example?

I inherited a financial advisor known to be really critical and tough to deal with. He constantly complained almost every time he placed a client with us. My boss was worried about my first interaction with this guy and so was his boss.

What happened?

I made him cry.

You might think this was bad but it wasn’t. It was a bonding exercise.

His office was in his home and we started chatting in the hallway. I commented on a piece of artwork he had on display and he told me it was a piece he had commissioned to honour his deceased mother. He told me the story of the day of her funeral. All I had to do was listen. I then shared a story about my mom’s death and it touched him so much, he cried.

People are always people,

You need to connect with them personally.

He was still a challenge to deal with after that but he respected me. He always answered my calls. He trusted me to handle situations as they came up.

With the world of work changing as fast as it is right now, we need to understand each other more than ever before.

How can we do this?

Adaptive listening

Personal clarity

Equanimity

Empathy and compassion

Trust

Learning how to handle ambiguity

Strategic thinking

Imagination

Optimism