We live in a world of relativity. Your big problem may be someone else’s minor nuisance. Your big raise may be a drop in the bucket to your corporate costs. But there are times when specificity is required so that relevance does not give unexpected results and anger two parties.

Lets pretend you ask a friend for a dime. Being obliging your friend hands you 2 nickels. Depending on your intended use of the dime your friends response may or may not be adequate. If you had intended spending the dime on a piece of bubble gum, no problem. But what if you had planned to use the dime as a thin screw driver to remove a battery cover on a camera. The two nickels are definitely not appropriate.

Who is at fault? The asker for failing to provide full disclosure and setting expectations; or the giver for failing to inquire on intended use and merely substituting a similar value based on his preconceived notions? Did the lack of communication likely lead to a confrontation? It might in a more critical scenario.

In the grand scheme of life it is how we react to similar situations that determine our well being. How much info must be shared between two parties so that each understands the relevance of a shared task will determine the success of the transaction and how the two parties may interact in the future.

In other words, If you want something from me, be damn clear about it.
Thank you for reading. I feel better now.
I guess I need to go read that chapter on having a forgiving spirt in the The Traveler’s Gift once again.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2006 at 10:53 am and is filed under Rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.