[TID-BITS] : POINTS OF VIEW
“Looking at the other side” or another “point of view”
- insight into problems or issues [work, relationships]
- see the situation from the other person’s point of view
- look at situations, or self, from another’s perspective
- be open to other sides and possibilities
- consider alternate possibilities before jumping to conclusions
- give people and situations the benefit of the doubt
- do not jump to conclusions before analyzing from different perspective
- not understanding is not an excuse for judgement
- be a less judgmental, more tolerant person
Trial and error in dealing with clients.
People come to me because I know what I’m doing, do it well, and execute quickly. They enjoy and continue working with me for these same reasons, and one more: I’ve realized over the years people want to be able to do things for themselves. So, in effect when I train others to, say, manage their own websites, I’m slowly working myself out of a job.
However, people don’t, can’t and shouldn’t have to understand the technical logistics behind how and what they’re being trained to do, so I’ve done three things in developing my approach to training people on using their systems:
- Make processes DIGESTIBLE by developing simple step-by-step instructions with pictures and diagrams for users to follow.
- Understand the user’s limitations (including what platform, browser, computer, technology) they’re working with, and tailor, play to and ACCOMMODATE them.
- DETACH my working knowledge of a process and try and “forget” convention and how something “should” work when working to understand and solve usability issues.
Overall the process of working with people and being in the technology industry has forced me into looking at different perspectives to understand both how other people are experiencing an issue, problem or situation, in order to solve it. Then by bringing back in the working knowledge I can hopefully come to a new fuller understanding of how to solve or expand on a process.
Thoughts from reading (Cracking Creativity, pp 173-194)
- Asking the opposite of a question – reversing a statement or assumption
- Opposite day! Making the “opposite” true
- This reminds me of sarcasm…
- Defying norms, reversing conventional thinking patterns
- Working backwards (practical application: project timelines)
- Imagine the “best case” (ideal solution) – backtrack from there until reaching “reality”