Page 83 - Make Work Great

Clarity Within Relationships

Define Your Need for Agreement
SEEK THE LEAST AMOUNT OF AGREEMENT NECESSARY

• Clarify what agreement you need from the other person.

• Think about what issues may arise and where it would be
appropriate to agree to disagree.

At this point, you should be feeling well prepared. You’re seeking
clarity in a way that is most likely to produce a successful result, both
in terms of fi nding the answer you need and in terms of making the
process painless for you and the other person involved.

The Network Is the Workplace
As we near the end of the fi rst section of this book, it seems clear that
we’re running out of ways to discuss you and your work without also
talking about the people with whom you interact.
That’s no coincidence. Recall our abstract representation of the
early information age workplace, a network of nodes and links. You
and the people around you are the nodes, and the communication
paths between you are the links. This crystalline network extends
infi nitely in all directions, but you naturally only have visibility into
the part of it closest to you, the part that you can metaphorically
“see.” From your perspective, you’re somewhere near the center of
your irregular crystal, which extends beyond your perception.
Figure 3.1 is not diffi cult to conceptualize as an interactive model.
You can easily imagine those you interact with most frequently—
whether they are customers, managers, employees, colleagues, or
anyone else—as being nearer to you in the crystalline network, with
others being farther away. The people on the edge of your personal
crystal are those with whom you have less interaction; you probably
have less insight into their roles and constraints.

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