Mutual Understanding
My best friend from high school is a nuclear engineer. We have one of those relationships where, after not seeing each other for a couple of years, we can pick up the conversation trail from where we left off. The last time we had dinner, I asked Paul, what exactly does a nuclear engineer do? He said, very simply, I get to play with really expensive toys! After I told him what I really do , help people learn how to get work done through and with others – he said, “Ugh! You are the guy we engineers can’t stand. We want to play with our really expensive toys and you want us to talk with each other.
Yes, I do! The cornerstone of great working relationships is not about talking with each other. It is about building mutual understanding. Mutual understanding exists when each person in a relationship understands the other and is understood. It requires us to speak and listen for understanding. And here’s the key , mutual understanding just means understanding each other’s point of view. It does not mean agreement. When we fail to take time to understand each other we begin to make assumptions and we all know what happens when we work on assumptions alone!