Hallway Studio

February 13, 2017

If you think saying something smart is all you need to make your idea a reality, you will have a career filled with disappointment and frustration. You need help, money, permission and support and getting it isn’t easy.

In Part 1 of Getting Things Done I introduced a framework for driving change when all you have is your sparkling personality, determination and an idea. People are weird and irrational or at least they seem that way to us. In this post, I’ll talk about how to understand and accept your clients, stakeholders, teammates and executives as individuals.

We can’t make our clients or stakeholders be the people we want them to be. They don’t speak our language, they are motivated by other things and their experience is their own. Instead of getting frustrated we need to meet them where they are.

What seems weird and irrational to you might make lots of sense when you start to consider:

Motivation
Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler says we have ideal, real and taboo values. Some values are easy to discover, others are hiding beneath the surface. Companies have the same types of values. Their mission statement may say one thing, but you’ll find other values drive decisions.

Constraints
Barriers real or imagined exist in any organization. If you are new to the organization you may not understand what these are and how people are choosing which battles to fight.

5 things that how how people interpret you from Heidi Grant Halvorson
Heidi Grant Halvorson: “No One Understands You and What To Do About It”

Communication
Social Psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson‘s research shows how people interpret our words and action. She’s found stereotypes and past experience can create miscommunications. Give people the benefit of the doubt and work to correct miscommunications.

Getting Things Done Series
Part 1: When you don’t have authority
Part 2: Accept the weird and irrational
Part 3: Prepare Yourself
Part 4: Manage the emotions

Image: An altered version of the part 1 image

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