Lost in Translation

Do you ever feel like you speak a different language than your co-worker, subordinate, or supervisor? Through the work of Myers and Briggs, we know that people take in information (the S-N dichotomy) and make decisions (the T-F dichotomy) in different ways. But many days, it can leave us feeling like we're lost in a foreign country.

Try this experiment: write down something that happened during the day in a short paragraph. Read back over it. Is it filled with specific details or context? Chances are, your preference is obvious from the paragraph you wrote down. Now, put yourselves in the shoes of someone with the opposite preference (or think of a time someone has told you a story and concentrated on the opposite preference). If we aren't getting the information we need, our minds wander (at best) and we might conclude the person speaking doesn't know what they're talking about (at worst). Ideally, we all seek to give our boss the information he or she needs quickly and concisely. If you consistently don't do that, it could have career ending ramifications.

Okay, so now that you are aware of the problem, what can you do to fix it? The first step is identifying when miscommunications are caused by different preference needs. This takes practice. I recommend writing down difficult situations in a journal as soon as possible and looking for preference-related reasons behind them. The next step is verbalizing the source of the miscommunication and looking for a way to reach common ground. The ideal long-term solution is learning to incorporate both sides of the preference dichotomies into your presentations (while keeping it concise).

While this seems like a lot of work, learning to "translate" between the dichotomy preferences is one of the easiest ways to reduce co-worker conflict. Remember to recognize that neither preference is "right." The goal is to develop your skill on both sides of each dichotomy.

Challenge: Identify one person at work who you think takes in information differently than you do. As them how they approach a routine task or assignment. Are there steps you skip? Would your work be more complete if you adopted them?