When we lead a conversation where we only bring our conclusions and inferences to the table, rather than the concrete data that helped lead us there, we are influencing (sometimes unjustly) what is even discussable among our teams. By going back down to discussing the data that helped us shape those conclusions, we can make conversations and meetings more fair, more equal, and more productive.
Workout of the week: Note when you have gone up the ladder of inference to a conclusion about a person and perhaps lost track of the data that led you there. Then, go back down and incorporate the data into an observation. Example: “She was defensive” is an inference or conclusion. Go back down the ladder to the data and turn it into an observation: “I observed that she crossed her arms and said, ‘I don’t know,’ twice.”