Intent vs. Experience
- Advoco
- Jun 5, 2020
- 2 min read
I used to be an avid consumer of the ESPN College GameDay show every Saturday morning. I would wake up early and plop down on the couch and watch the entire show. My favorite part was always the last 15 minutes or so when all the people on the show made their game picks. The cast of experts spends time going back and forth explaining who they think will win the upcoming games and why. They are experts in their field so we should know who is going to win or lose by what they say, right?
But as Lee Corso likes to say, “Not so fast my friend.”
We can have the best intentions and expert opinions, but things can still go off the rails. Have you ever had great intentions for a project and the project got sideways and you don't understand how it got there? How about having the best of intentions in a conversation with a friend and the friend still ended up mad at you and you don't understand why? In these situations we often tell ourselves that the client is impossible or the friend is being ridiculous and sensitive.
This happens because we judge ourselves on our intent and others judge us on the experience they have with us. We don’t understand why the client isn’t happy because our intent was to give them the best EAM solution possible to help them with their business needs. Their experience may be that we aren’t truly listening to what they are saying and needing. Our intent was to help a friend out with our conversation but their experience is that we are being a hypocrite.
In Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley says direction not intent determines your path. The more life experiences I gain, the more I believe this to be a fundamental principle of the universe. People’s experience of a situation is undefeated against people’s intentions of the situation. Great intentions are never enough, we must make sure that the experience matches the intent.
Until next time…we are Advoco, make every minute count.
About Dale: As our Executive Director of Human Resources, Dale is the powerhouse behind helping our team grow. He graduated from USC-Upstate (but considers himself a Dayton Flyer). He has over twelve years of HR experience in a variety of industries, focused primarily on talent acquisition and organizational development. Dale is passionate about challenging himself, and when he’s not in the office, he’s training for his next big race. Each year he picks a different race to compete in. In the past it has been mostly running events, but this year is all about biking, he just completed a 75 mile relay from Asheville, SC to Greenville, SC. Questions? Send Dale an email!
Comments