Building shared understanding

Pro tip: you don’t know what other people are thinking. 😵‍💫 So find out!

Have you ever thought an employee understood their task, but received a result very different from your vision? Or, after you completed part of a project, found out that your understanding of your client’s needs was different from theirs? 😠

Here’s an important skill from the education world we can apply in the business world: check for understanding!

Great teachers recognize they don’t know what’s in a student’s head. They have to bring it out through homework or projects or dialogue — anything that makes the thinking visible. Only visible thinking can be assessed and graded. So great teachers develop the skill of checking for understanding, not merely assuming it.

Also, here’s what great teachers don’t do: they don’t ask “did you understand that?” The answer “yes” is not a visible demonstration of understanding!

Great contributors and managers can apply the same skill
🧾 Working out a project scope with a client? Ask the client to elaborate on every aspect of their vision; don’t assume you understand it.
☑️ Delegating a task? Ask your employee to tell you how they’ll accomplish it; don’t assume they’ll do it the way you would.

🙅 And certainly don’t just ask whether they understood. If they don’t share what’s in their brain, you don’t know what’s in their brain!

This isn’t about lack of trust. It’s about transparency and shared understanding. You can’t see thoughts, so you must work toward a shared understanding that will lead to better outcomes.

Got a funny story about a missed understanding? Got tips on how to build shared understanding? Care to disagree because you actually can see into other people’s brains? Let’s continue the conversation!