Page 100 - Make Work Great

Growing Your Crystal

ing subject to change” and let the other person decide what to dis-
cuss next. This strategy will help you to get a manageable amount
of spontaneous, high-quality feedback rather than a voluminous
amount of forced, low-quality feedback.
In any case, feedback is not your primary goal at the moment.
Your real intent is to encourage the other person to think and talk
about his or her own workplace purpose. Obviously, the more trust-
ing your relationship with that person, the easier this will be. The
organizational relationship between you also comes into play, a
topic we’ll address later in this chapter.
Remember that, no matter what, preparation is your ally. Before
you attempt your conversation, prepare using the three defi nitions
that go along with seeking clarity:

1. Defi ne your question. In this case, the question you’re trying to
answer has two parts: (a) How can you best share your work-
place purpose? and (b) what is the other person’s purpose? Your
only goal is information exchange.

2. Defi ne your approach. As always, be prepared to interact with
the other person in ways that maximize his or her comfort,
matching your pace and focus. For example, if she’s someone
who likes to study everything in writing, be sure to bring along
a printed copy of your summary outputs list.

3. Defi ne your need for agreement. In this case, your aim is shared
understanding, not agreement. You can’t expect a utopia in
which everyone agrees with you, nor do you require one. Begin
with the desire for information exchange alone; issues of agree-
ment that demand resolution will surface soon enough.

Notice that in trying to role-model being overt, you have immediately
become a role model for seeking clarity too. Task and relationship, as
always, are intertwined. The desire to share workplace purpose leads
to the need to defi ne your question, approach, and need for agree-

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