Climb on the ‘Blind Men’ Bandwagon
August 15th, 2003 by Hal
The Blind Men and the Elephant, Mastering Project Work is gathering quite an entourage. In yesterday's Ask Annie column for Fortune Magazine Annie refers to David Schaltz's book when giving her advice to an engineer who writes, He Used to Work for Me, but Now He's Working Against Me.
Annie consulted David Schmaltz before offering her advice. David said,
It's easy to conclude that your own experience and perceptions are somehow adequate to describe the whole 'elephant,' but that's rarely the case. So first, in your own mind, make the most generous possible assessment of your colleague's curious behavior. Then sit down with him and, without making accusations, ask him to describe how he sees the situation.
Challenge your certainties. Often people see an enemy where there is none, start to do battle, and then are surprised to find they've provoked an actual war.
Schmaltz recommends caution:
Just getting rid of someone whose behavior is bugging you is the way teams get destroyed. On really high-performing teams, people don't waste time obsessing over who did what. For better or worse, the whole team did it.
This engineer may be tested if he follows Annie/David's advice. Can he suspend his views long enough to inquire collaboratively with the other engineer? And can he listen generously when the other speaks? And he was just looking for advice. Looks like he got way more than he asked. Hop aboard!
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