There is a saying that goes, "Listen together and you will be enlightened, believe only half and you will be dark." The general meaning is that you need to listen to the opinions of many parties to distinguish right from wrong. If you only listen to one side's opinions, you will easily become ignorant. However, what this sentence does not say is how to listen to what feels like "contradictory information"?
Can't the supervisor hear the truth? There are three ways to say something, who is right?
Something happened to a friend's supervisor recently. The supervisor watched the progress report of project leader A at the meeting. The supervisor just wanted to confirm whether all sub-projects were completed. Afterwards, he noticed that A handed one of the small projects to B, but C was originally responsible for this project.
The supervisor asked C, "Why didn't you follow up?" C said he didn't know. He only found out after being assigned. The reason seemed to be that B wanted to change jobs.
It happened that the supervisor was going to have a meeting with A, so he asked A: "Wasn't C responsible for that certain project before? Why was it given to B?" A said that it was assigned to B because C didn't want to do it anymore.
Later, when B mentioned the progress of this project to his supervisor, he couldn't help but ask, why should this project be given to him? The supervisor asked: "Isn't it what you want to do?" B said: I don't want to do it, but it was assigned to me.
In this story, three people give different versions of the same thing:
C: He didn't give up on his own initiative, he was just assigned.
A: Because C didn't want to do it, B took over instead.
B: He didn't take the initiative to do it, he just took the assigned work.
If you were a supervisor, whose statement would you believe, and who would tell the truth? If a certain person is assumed to be true, is it possible to assume that a certain person is false?
Recognize that information is one-sided, and then develop the ability to become Conan: the truth is often "more than one"
The starting point of a supervisor is that he must hold the belief of "goodness" and believe that everyone is working seriously and that no one should deliberately push for work.
But the reality is that when colleagues report to their supervisors, they will definitely receive "one-sided" information. The so-called one-sidedness means that the information may have been beautified or directly "silenced". In other words, supervisors may not always be able to get all the information, and can only evaluate what they say, and it will probably not be detrimental to them.
After cross-checking, the supervisor concluded that what the three people said were all true.
C might not want to do it, nor would he tell his supervisor, so he would tactfully express that he was assigned. B may really want to change his job, but this project is not his first choice. This is his second or third choice. A may know the thoughts of B and C, plus his own thoughts, so he made this arrangement.
In such a situation, how can a supervisor listen and understand at the same time? What this supervisor did was to find common clues from everyone's partial information and deduce the whole picture. But "listening" is not just about passively receiving information, but also requires active interpretation. Supervisors need to consciously balance these statements and avoid jumping to premature conclusions.
In an office, there is often more than one truth because everyone sees things from their own perspective. As a supervisor, the important thing is not "who is right or wrong", but to find the best solution from multiple perspectives that can promote teamwork and achieve goals.
Reflections and suggestions
Supervisors can adopt the following strategies when faced with conflicting information:
- Listen and remain neutral: Don't rush to judge someone as right or wrong, but try to understand each person's perspective and position.
- Seek factual support: If possible, try to supplement it with data or other objective evidence, and avoid relying solely on verbal information.
- Promote communication: Allow different opinions to be discussed in public and reduce misunderstandings and information gaps.
