VALUING DIFFERENCES

I recently had some uncomfortable moments when working under great pressure, with team of new colleagues, all very experienced, very talented and with strong views on many things. We were discussing how the day had gone and what needed changing for tomorrow, what we had learnt etc, and I was aware, several times of feeling uncomfortable.

They seemed to be worrying about things that didn’t seem like an issue to me. Spending ages debating things which seemed obvious. Needless to say if they had felt that way we wouldn’t have spent 3 hours in discussion after a very long day and a very short night! Perhaps those of you who are married might have some experience with this… However, from inside me it just felt like we were ‘wasting time’. No doubt I communicated some of this and they no doubt responded by thinking I was either too thick, too insensitive or too unprofessional to care!

Now we worked it all out and came to a really very good conclusion but this all had at its root the different way in which we not only perceived things ,but processed them in our brains. I think they were following a stepwise, linear process, pawing over every detail along the way. I think I was responding to patterns and making intuitive leaps. I am certainly not claiming to have been right about every point, the end product was a cocktail of everyone’s views and experience.

However, when people process / perceive things differently then you need to find ways to bridge between your worlds, to respect their processes and pace. Ideally, you learn to take form each other the best of what you each ‘bring to the party’ so that if one person is great at ‘big picture’ connections, accept those, and the other really strong at sorting out the details, grab them.

Working this way is true synergy and everyone wins; the alternative is we get frustrated and emotional and it goes slower and slower! The key is to try and get them to vocalise their concerns and for you to address them in similar terms. I freely admit, I could have done this better
It would be great if you spared yourself this experience!

“Not until we respect ourselves, can we gain the esteem of others, or rather only then will it come of its own accord” Albert Einstein
“When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet in his private heart no man much respects himself” Mark Twain

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 15:28 and is filed under General, Hints, Tips & Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.