Slow Down to Speed Up

When I want to move quickly (which is almost always), my natural tendency is to form a logical argument peppered with facts, figures and knowledge. This tendency is based on the flawed expectation that by educating someone I can help her achieve resolution (and success) faster.

Of course, this approach completely backfires for one simple reason: education is not how we change minds. It doesn't matter how many facts and figures we have at our fingertips - people will ignore them (and even resist them) unless we 1) make sure that we understand what they want; and 2) allow them to arrive at the resolution by themselves, without being too invested in a single route for getting there.

Thus, it is my goal to slow down to speed up. To ask more questions and give fewer answers. When I do this, the result is invariably a shorter time to resolution without arguments, disagreements or disappointments.

It's amazing! Please let me know if you have observed this principle in action!