You can spot the difference


March 9, 2011 by Jared Goralnick

Two very different dogs, sort ofYou can follow the same steps and get different results.  One reason for that is the intention.  People can see your intent just as clearly as you can.

And if you can’t see it, maybe it’s worth looking for.

I’ve always been a believer that we have two voices—the one where we want our companion to hear us and the one where we want others around to listen in.  The one where we’re talking to blend in with the surroundings, and the one where those outside our group can catch the whole story.

I don’t know if I’m right about this.  But I catch myself using the different voices, especially when the one I’d like to hear me isn’t the person to whom I’m speaking.

It’s not just the volume that’s different.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think that as my intention changes so does my voice.  And in all our actions we run into this subtle distinction of intent.

Sometimes that intention is to make something happen, other times it’s to follow the steps that would make something happen.  In some ways it looks the same, but in others it’s all the difference.

There’s someone I’ve worked with recently who never finishes things.  She completes all the steps, but somehow things aren’t done.  We could make a checklist, we could do the tasks together, but it’s not finished.

The steps are checked off, but the result is incomplete.  The intention just wasn’t there.  At least that’s how I see it.

People know when I’m using those different voices.  People can see when we’re just following the steps.  I think we have to recognize when it is that we’re just following the steps, because we’re never going to get there.

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