Intelleto

I was having lunch with Julia, and while we were wrapping up and paying the bill, she did a great job recapping the topics we covered, summarized my concerns/ideas, and reiterated the list of things that we had decided to do based on what we talked about.

Now Julia is a productivity maven, which in no way undermines her incredible sly sweetness. She’s really on the ball. But this was over-the-top on-the-ball. I told her I was impressed. She said “I’m reading this great book on facilitation. I don’t have issues, I have action items.”

The last part cracked me up. But actually, when I thought about it more, I was quite moved and inspired.

I’m sick of business-speak that euphemizes “issue” or “challenge” when what people really mean is “problem.” There is a difference, folks. I checked out the dictionary and pulled the definitions to see what nuance each word had:

• Problem : Any question or matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty.
• Issue : A point, matter, or dispute, the decision of which is of special or public importance: ie: the business issue.
• Challenge : Difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.

Sometimes the matter at hand isn’t of special importance. It’s not an issue, it’s a problem.

And often, there’s no stimulation or engagement for the person responsible for solving it. It’s not a challenge, it’s a problem.

But one thing they all have in common is that some action, decision or solution needs to happen. Julia hit the nail on the head. They all have action items. Or at least they should. Awesome.

We’re social and tribal, we humans. And making assessments, judgments and forming opinions is part of the supple cloth that we weave in our relationships, in how we perceive things, and our perspectives on the world.

So, how do you figure out if you wanna hang with someone? If you want to do business with a company? How do you assess what they stand for, what they are aiming for, what lens they view the world through?
In talking with Rachel, this 2×2 emerged…

• Is it about the self? or the quest?
  It’s amazing how quickly this comes out in conversation with others, in ads, in brand messages, in the random comments people make. It’s one of our best human traits: we can usually get the flavor of a thing quickly.
• Is it going towards the light? or wallowing in the dark? How positive is someone? Optimistic? Or gloomy? Expecting a bright future, or happy when things fail?

Companies are somewhere on this grid. Your friends are somewhere on this grid. Steve Jobs is somewhere on this grid.

And you’re somewhere on this grid. Where are you?

And Sarah had an excellent answer: “Well, it depends. It’s important to know when you have a hypothesis, and when you have an agenda. With a hypothesis, you are open to learning that it’s true, that it’s partially true, or that it’s wrong. With an agenda, you have an investment with proving that you are right.”

What a wonderful distinction…have a hypothesis; not an agenda.