Jumping to Conclusions

Waldo Weatherbee Jr. briskly walked by his secretary's desk into his office; he had a busy day ahead of him and needed to get a quick start. He couldn't help, however, overhearing his secretary, Gertrude, speaking with a new recruit she was training.

"... and this is Mr. Weatherbee Jr. He's disgusted with his father..."

Weatherbee's blood ran cold. He had always trusted Gertrude; he considered her a valuable member of his work team and had confided a fair bit in her. He was both shocked and deeply dismayed to hear her bad mouthing him to the new hire. It's true that he and his father didn't always get along; at times the whole office could hear their disagreements which sometimes became quite "animated".

But poisoning a new staff member right from the outset was absolutely unacceptable. No matter what her thought of her, he would have to take quick, decisive action. Who knows what else she may have told others, and what disastrous consequences they may portend?

"Gertrude, can you join me for a moment?"

"Sure Mr. Weatherbee. I'll be there momentarily."

When his assistant entered the office and closed the door behind her, Weatherbee Jr. got right to the point. "Gertrude, you've been great, but you're fired. I cannot condone that kind of slander and malicious gossip in my workplace. I'll give you the rest of the day to pack your bags and leave."

"Wha... wha... what!? Mr. Weatherbee? What are you possibly talking about!!?!!" Gertrude's tears were quickly welling-up.

"I'm sorry Gertrude, but you can't deny it. I heard it with my own ears. You're turning the new recruit against me already and I must put a stop to this immediately."

"Mr. Weatherbee, I promise you, I don't know what you're talking about. We were sitting together discussing the new employee health benefit plan being considered when you walked by.

The new secretary had just asked me if we will have to pay into the plan. I told her that it was currently being discussed, and that 'I'm not certain about that, but this is Mr. Weatherbee and he's discussed it with his father...'"

You were right there. You know what you heard. Or do you...? This scenario, or one just like it, plays itself out countless times across innumerable workplaces everyday. Burning the emotional capital resources of ourselves or others causes a chink in the wall of trust between employees, friends and even family. The bigger the chink, the bigger the hit, the bigger the time it takes to repair.

I frequently tell my employees "When you have a question, ask a question, don't make a statement." Meaning: if you think you've heard something, if you think you've understood that someone just said something offensive, ask a question to clarify it rather than assume you're correct and make a response based on that mistaken assumption.

Take a step back. When you've heard something that brings you to a boil, and ask yourself, "Maybe it wasn't quite like that. Maybe I didn't hear it correctly or maybe I misunderstood something," and then ask questions rather than making statements to clarify.

I know I've caught myself many times when something seemingly offensive turned out to be either a mistake or a simple misunderstanding.

What about you?

Remember to look before you leap when jumping to conclusions!