A CEO’s advice: Assume Positive Intent
Give people the benefit of the doubt. Assume that they had positive intentions, identify the situational details, and get the bigger picture.
Insight: A superintendent walked onto a job site and questioned the site supervisor about some rebar that was piled in a disorganized mess. The supervisor said that he planned to clean it up tomorrow. The superintendent jumped to a conclusion and said to himself, "Here we go again... another uncommitted supervisor."
We all make mistakes. However, we hold a double standard--we judge other people's mistakes differently than we judge our own. When we make mistakes, we often blame all the facts of the situation. When other people make mistakes, we tend to overemphasize the other person's role in that mistake-we very quickly blame them! As a result, we are tend to assume that other people's personalities, characters, and values have led to their mistakes:
It was their fault
They were not sincere
They had negative intentions
They're stupid, ignorant, and dumb
This double standard is very well documented in scientific research and is called the Fundamental Attribution Error.
Once these conclusions arise in our own heads, we tend to act as if they were true. We stop trusting the other person, stop working with them on high-priority projects, and ultimately cut ourselves off from them, as well as from their talents and skills. For the few people that survive our scorn, we reward them with more work. This is detrimental to leading a team effectively.
This double standard can be countered through one simple cognitive shift.
Key Action: Give people the benefit of the doubt. Assume that they had positive intentions, identify the situational details, and get the bigger picture.
Indra Nooyi, the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, advised in a recent Fortune interview: "Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a person or problem becomes very different. When you assume negative intent, you're angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed. You can say, wait a minute, let me really get behind what they are saying to understand whether they're reacting because they're hurt, upset, confused, or they don't understand what it is I've asked them to do."
When you look for positive intent, you give people the benefit of the doubt and you give yourself the chance to learn the details of the situation. You are demonstrating that you are supporting the other person's success and can be trusted to explore the details without jumping to conclusions.
Once you learn the details, you may get to see that the team member was indeed committed, competent, and on top of the situation. In the example above, Frank left the worksite because he learned that one of his workmen had been injured, and he took personal responsibility to manage the situation. He wasn't lazy and uncommitted as the superintendent assumed.
Maybe, in a few cases, you will learn that the person indeed did not have positive intentions. Allow yourself to learn this, rather than jumping to the conclusion without clear information! Then you can take action on clear and verified information.
By assuming positive intent, you may be surprised how often you learn something that you hadn't expected. You'll likely avoid many embarrassing and damaging conversations. Just as importantly, assuming positive intent makes it easier for the other person to engage in a productive conversation rather than getting defensive, and you will show up as supporting their success of your teammates.
