ARE ASSUMPTIONS DESTROYING YOUR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS?
Picture this: John has just finished explaining to his team the rollout plan for the new product line in great detail. As he looks around the room, he sees Jack and Ben look disturbed while the rest of the team seems pleased. John sharply reminds the two men to “get on board”. They and go silent and the meeting adjourns.
How we perceive our relationships with others is
significantly affected by our unconscious selection process.
These unconscious choices lead to communication problems because we believe our perceptions are the truth. Applying the Ladder of Inference helps to make conscious the unconscious assumptions we hold, allowing for more open, honest, and effective communication.
People often lead by jumping to conclusions. These can be correct, but when the conclusions are wrong, it can lead to conflicts. The Ladder of Inference helps you avoid jumping to conclusions and instead reason based on facts.
John quickly drew conclusions about Jack and Ben’s expressions. They’ve questioned him in the past and he assumes that their response to his rollout plan is disagreement.
Checking with Jack and Ben, we find that they in turn made assumptions about John’s instructions. They only heard part of what he said because they started up the Ladder and missed critical information that would have answered their concerns. John assumed that they understood him completely and disagreed. Neither assumptions are true. If they had explored their assumptions together, they could have quickly resolved their differences.
The Ladder of Inference is an effective way to improve communication and implement change—both for leaders and for team members.