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Food for thought: Balanced thinking and feeling
Most of us have a natural inclination to see either the logic (or lack of it) in a situation or the impact on the people involved. For instance, two consultants might look at a client's proposed acquisition in two ways:
- A 'thinker' might look through the numbers, testing them for consistency and achievability based on prior experience.
- A 'feeler' might look at the vision for the newly-acquired business, the communication plan and the cultural differences between the organisations that might constrain successful integration.
They are both right and either might find the 'golden nugget' enabling the acquisition to deliver value or the fatal flaw in the deal that should stop it going ahead.
This natural preference influences the information we choose to take in and the way we seek to influence others. The challenge is to combine the strengths of both approaches. When the people we are trying to influence have the opposite preference, this flexibility is crucial.
Some coaching questions offered by thinkers and feelers to each other are:
| When… | Advice to thinkers | Advice to feelers |
| …gathering information and assessing a situation | Who is impacted; how are they are likely to feel about it and respond? How can motivation be built/sustained? |
What is the impact of this on the P&L? What data is available to assess the situation? |
| …influencing others | What is the simple vision people can understand? What do people think of your proposals? How will we build commitment across the organisation? |
What are the logical steps we need to go through and how does each drive the next to lead to a result? What data supports your proposals? What alternatives have been ruled out and why? |
Why not find a colleague 'from the other side' to coach you?
Alastair Campbell
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