This morning while my son and I were eating breakfast we got talking about football (the North American kind, oblong ball, helmets, pads…you know).
Football, not Football.
He asked me a question about pass coverage and how he should be set up when the team is passing.
I gave him my best 27 years of experience (player, coach, fan) answer and he looked at me like I had a hole in my head. I repeated my answer and I could tell he still had no clue what I was talking about.
He then said one of things that makes you pause for a moment to re-evaluate, “Dad, you have no clue what I’m talking about do you?” Funny, he said to me what I was thinking about him.
I answered his question perfectly. I have the knowledge skills and abilities to do so. he’s been playing for 8 months… how dare he say I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Enter “Perspective”
The problem was, he was asking from his defensive position and I was answering from his offensive position. Perspective…. where you are looking from can dramatically change the answer.
How many of us truly understand what the question is we are being asked by the public? How can the public not get our answers? We have the authority, the experience and the knowledge, skills and abilities… who are they to question us?
First answer… they are our community so they have every right to question us.
Second answer… are we looking at the question from their perspective or from ours? The views can be very different which can lead to very different answers.
Why is it blue?
Perspective will determine the proper answer
I used to get so frustrated with one of my supervisors when I was a detective because I would ask him a question and he would ask me 20 in return. He would NEVER answer my question until he knew EXACTLY what it was I was asking. The result: I became better at asking questions and he gave the right answer every time because he actually knew what the question was, the perspective it was being viewed from and all the issues surrounding the question.
Think about answering questions from your community with the same mindset:
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions back
- Explain to them you want to remove any doubt about what is being asked
- Your goal is to answer the question without confusion or answering from the wrong perspective.
The vast majority of the public doesn’t have any idea why we do things or the way we do them. So when they as a question, it may seem like our authority is being challenged when the reality is; maybe the real answer is just being sought.
