| In 1993, Chinese Northern Airlines Flight 6901 was en route from Beijing to Xinjiang. The Chinese pilots were flying a U.S.-built McDonnell Douglas MD-82 airliner and attempting to land in dense fog.
Suddenly an alarm went off in the cockpit warning the pilots of their dangerous proximity to the ground. But the pilots were baffled by the alarm and the accompanying warning. One crew member asked another in Chinese, “What does ‘pull up’ mean?” Moments later, the plane crashed. The McDonnell Douglas engineers and the pilots had each made grave assumptions.
Assumptions Breed Missed Expectations
Whether you lead a mentoring program, a project team, or a business, missed expectations are the greatest threat to your people’s success.
Following any communication, we all establish expectations. Typically, these are implied and result in assumptions.
For example, you and I decide that our project necessitates regular updates. I assume the word “regular” means you want a weekly update; you assume you are going to receive a daily update from me. When I update you on Friday, you’re upset that you haven’t heard from me in five days, while I’m proud of myself for getting you a project update on time.
That’s a missed expectation.
It is the cause of every frustration, conflict, and altercation, personally and professionally. It breeds distrust and negativity in your program, on your team, and in your culture. If unaddressed or ignored, feelings fester, resulting in anger, disengagement, even attrition.
And it can be entirely prevented.
How? By assuming from the outset that there are assumptions. By being curious about those assumptions. By taking actions to confirm or negate those assumptions.
And here’s why setting expectations is so crucial in any program, on any team, in any relationship…
By working on the commitments and clarifying the outcomes, you are setting up the other person for success. You are making their experience your priority.
Some words to try:
- Let’s clarify our expectations…
- Let’s review and summarize our commitments…
- To make sure I understand…
- For context…
- What time zone exactly?
- To check myself, let me know what you heard…
Kill the phrase, “Does that make sense?” because it assumes an outcome – the outcome in which I agree that you made complete sense. But it doesn’t leave any space to examine where our expectations might be discordant.
If we are determined to avoid the malignancy of missed expectations, then we must stay fiercely vigilant and relentlessly committed. Assumptions abound!
© 2020. Ann Tardy and Mentor Lead. www.mentorlead.com | www.anntardy.com |
