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From Contributor to Advisor

you can investigate any aspect of overtness or clarity as part of your
exploration. If you’re unsure where to begin, the best approach is to
step through all of the components in the order in which you fi rst
learned them. In other words, begin with purpose.
Tables 7.1 and 7.2 provide examples of the kinds of issues you can
explore about each type of overtness and clarity, as well as the answers
you can expect. Much of the detail is omitted in these summaries.
They are not intended to replace the expertise you’ve developed in
being overt about tasks and seeking clarity about relationships, and
they shouldn’t be used as handouts for your advisee. Rather, they are
intended as job aids to help guide you in applying your expertise.
As you review the tables, notice the slight but important differ-
ence between them. Table 7.1 outlines the advice process when the
issue has to do with overtness about task. In these cases, your advi-
see may be having trouble with his or her own tasks or may be hav-
ing trouble getting someone else to do something. The table allows
for this difference between advisee and performer. Table 7.2, on the
other hand, focuses on issues of relationship. In these cases, the focus
should stay on the advisee. When you’re advising someone about his
or her relationship with another person, it is neither practical nor
useful to give suggestions to the absent party. Instead, keep your sug-
gestions focused on what your advisee might do differently him- or
herself.
Using these tables will help you narrow down your discussion to
a specifi c area. Remember to do this! Your goal is to address what
you believe to be the most important issue. After all, none of us can

Quick Video: Improving Output

Visit www.MakeWorkGreat.com for a short video segment about how
to advise others using the six forms of overtness about task. This is
also an easy bit of information to share if you’re trying to describe the
contents of this chapter to a trusted friend or colleague.

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