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Tip 672: Ask for comparisons based on criteria you understand. |
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Someone's "excellent" may be the next person's "good." When you ask the hotel concierge for a recommendation on a "good'' restaurant, do you mean good food, nice atmosphere, reasonable price, or quiet enough for business discussions? If you've ever been that vague, then you know the results can be disastrous. |
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Ask the adviser to make comparisons on specific terms. |
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Not: "Do you think Cary Martin would work well with the other people on this project?" |
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But: "Do you think Cary Martin or Cheryl Glass would work better with the others on this team?" |
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Not: "I'm in charge of refreshments and I was wondering if you expect a good attendance at this conference." |
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But: "I'm in charge of the refreshments, and I was wondering how many you expect to attend the conference. We had about 200 last year. Do you expect more or fewer than that?" |
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Tip 673: Avoid so much information that you "Freeze" your adviser. |
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If you give people too much "background" information, you may discourage them from even trying to understand enough to attempt to advise you. A greater danger in overloading the other person is passing on so many biased statements, invalid assumptions, and unsupported claims that they can't get a new perspective on the issuethey see the same things you do. If you push the same raw vegetables through the blender, you'll likely get the same kind of vegetable juice when you finish. |
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Tip 674: Don't state your opinion or position and then argue if the other person disagrees. |
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Arguing with the answer or position offered doesn't mean you want to win; it doesn't even mean you disagree. Unfortunately, however, people often think so. Sometimes any hint of disagreement translates to displeasure and often shuts the adviser down. To counter this tendency, you have to tread lightly at the beginning. Let the other person get the position stated, and then carefully point outor simply ask aboutgaps in logic. |
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