Friday, August 30, 2013

listening to people takes time

Recently, some people I really love invited me to give them some feedback on a project. I was very happy to do it... What surprised me was we had about five minutes or less at the end of the meeting to talk!

When you ask people to help you, by letting you interview them, or by giving you feedback, it's important to allocate enough time to listen and understand. Understanding is not always instant; in fact, in gathering insight you're usually trying to discover what's behind first responses, asking why a lot, to ferret out people's feelings, motivations, and real behavior. This last point is important, because we often answer questions baed on who we'd like to be rather than on our actual habits.

It's wonderful when someone takes the time the really listen, and seek understanding. It's also a great way to learn what you could make that might delight them.

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