Social Intelligence
Tone |
Maintain tone of curiosity. Remind yourself that you can learn from this person. |
Pace |
One question at a time - adjust if you sense misunderstanding or anxiety. |
Preamble |
Use short phrases that explain intent and awareness of difficult terrain. |
Focus | Maximise Opportunity
Participation |
Participating be best use of time/energy? Which stakeholders should be involved? Who should be notified or included? |
Communication Channel |
Can discuss over email instead of meeting time? Would be better face to face/via video? Can we mitigate downsides of video call? |
Discussion Direction |
What is desired outcome? What is big picture? Getting to heart of matter? Too deep into details? |
Motivation |
Consistent with our mission? Align with strategic prios? Importance, given other tasks? Passionate about this? |
Mental Ecology |
Clear headed enough for right now? Attention focused? Need break? |
Evidence | Assess Strength or Credibility of Data
Credibility of Source |
Area of expertise? experts agree? bias seen in the past? benefit financially, or other way? |
Weighing Reasons |
strongest reasons, pro and con? reasoning consistent? |
Sampling |
sample size? representation? |
Data Collection |
Method? When? Is typical qualitative research design? Control group? |
Data Analysis |
What does this mean? Standard Deviation? Normal Distribution? Outliers? Sample size significant for meaningful conclusion? |
Effect | Explore Outcomes
Stakeholders |
Impact on stakeholders (clients, customers, vendors, colleagues, other projects, community) |
Time Span |
Short/Medium/Long term effects |
Multiple Scenarios |
best/worst/most likely case? |
Unintended Consequences |
unexpected downsides/upsides? Range of side effects - desirable/undesirable? |
Indicators |
leading indicator/first sign of change? Lagging indicators/late signs of change? small wins to watch for and celebrate? |
Risk Assessment |
Possibility of something -ve happening? If occurs, what is the harm? |
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Communication Lifecycle
Listen |
Hear the whole question. Note key points. Paraphrase. |
Align |
Core Answer First. [Yes OR No, Number OR Date], I don't know and..., # of bullets]. |
Distill |
Pause (up to 5 sec before speaking). Keep it essential to vital points. |
Qualify |
Do not oversimplify. [Currently..., Most reliable data shows..., Best answer right now...] |
Assumption | Surface what we've taken for granted
Existence |
Safe to assume there actually is a problem to the solution? |
Uniqueness |
Are we assuming there is only one process |
Measurement |
Safe to assume we can know that we've solved the problem? |
Possibility |
Assuming we have enough time? |
Value |
Assuming problem is worth solving? |
Audience |
Assuming we share the same pers[ective? |
Category |
Assume we grouped things correctly? |
Similarity |
Assuming these are more alike than different? |
Time Constancy |
Assuming situation hasn't changed since we started? |
Action | Plan or Manage Activity
Accountability |
Who is accountable/managing? Who signs-off? Who should be reviewer? |
Containment vs Prevention |
Intent to contain problem? Intent to fix root cause? |
Goal Analysis |
What are goals? Measurable? Consistent? Feasible, given constraints? |
Planning |
Strategy? Tactical plan? Next steps? Timeframe? |
Risk Assessment |
HMW reduce probability of event happening? If event happens, HMW minimise -ve impact? |
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Preambles
YES |
Right, Absolutely, Definitely, Sure, I like that, I'm with you, that rocks, that's great, excellent, nice, keep going, for sure, I'm onboard |
NO |
No way, not now, I don't think so, that feels like a stretch, I have concerns with that, the data doesn't support that, that doesn't sync with my experience, I don't see it that way |
I Don't Know + |
we don't know, no one knows, we haven't decided yet, the data is unclear, we aren't sure |
Difficult Terrain |
I'm thinking of... |
Clarification | clarify meaning
Ambiguity |
Do you mean X or Y? |
Vagueness |
To what extend? At what rate? In what percentage of cases? Over what timeframe? |
Slippery Terms |
For term X, do you and I mean the same thing? |
Mental Graph |
Units of measurement? Baseline? Change over time? Current level/rate? |
Mental Pivot Table |
Can we break that down by X? What does it look like broken out by X? (age, location, type, time, period, market etc). |
Difficult Concepts |
Definition? Example? Types? |
Cause | Why something happened
Sequence of Events |
Order? What else was happening at the time? |
Trigger / Condition |
Tigger event? Background conditions in place? |
Mechanism |
How does it work? Parts? Interaction of parts? |
Root Cause |
Root cause? More than one root cause? |
Driver / Inhibitor |
Forces in action? Drivers? Inhibitors? |
Non-linear causality |
interdependencies in system? Adaptive capabilities? Main feedback loops? Tipping point? |
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