Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Telling Yourself a Story

Two of the most incredible books I’ve read are Crucial Confrontations and Crucial Conversations. I only found out later that the authors also graduated from Brigham Young University. ;-)

The steps don’t come naturally for me. I have to do a refresher whenever I’m quick enough to know I’m in or needing a crucial confrontation.

But the most incredible insight for me is the part about “Telling Yourself a Story.” It’s the lightning quick (reminds me of the book Blink, another great read by Gladwell) presumption of motive and intent in another person or group before you’ve confirmed it exists.

It's served me well in some aspects, e.g., avoiding grave danger. But more often than not, it gets in my way by setting in motion a whole series of actions, reactions.

But knowing my quickness can result in “telling myself a story” is a very small part of the solution, and the easy part. The hard part is catching yourself before you do it. I’m making progress, but it will be a lifelong battle.

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