35. Don’t Judge. Get The Facts.

Don’t make assumptions. There’s usually more to the story than it first appears. Gather the facts before jumping to conclusions or making judgments. Be curious about what other information might give you a more complete picture.

Marc's Message:

I have been guilty like others I’m sure of sometimes jumping to conclusions. Often we hear something and assume it’s fact and must be accurate. But when you step back and look, listen and learn more objectively, we often find that there are not only two sides to every story, but that your first impression may be completely wrong. Everyone looks at situations differently and we need to better understand others’ thoughts and motivation.

So what do we need to do to not judge and get the real facts? I heard a quote a couple years ago, which said … “Judge Others By Their Intentions, Judge Yourself By Your Actions”. It’s human nature that many people take the opposite approach because it’s easier to judge yourself by your intentions and others by their actions. But if we flipped it as the quote states, I believe we would more accurately assess each interaction. I also feel that taking this approach would help us all be more patient and tolerant with situations instead of jumping to conclusions and becoming frustrated and / or frustrating others.

Who stands out as being curious about gathering additional information to get a more complete picture? One person who stands out and has impressed me since joining Famous is our new CIO Jim Sage. I watch Jim in meetings and how he interacts with others. I can tell he is a good listener and he is patient. Jim wants to learn more about every situation and he’s interested in the details of the “people” as well as the “process” side of the equation. He’s been around the block and has wisdom that he shares with our team. He often does this in the form of questions to create more dialogue. Jim also has the courage to go against the grain (always professionally) to state his respectful opinion even if it’s unconventional and goes against the quick conclusions of others in the room.

This fundamental and “living it” is extremely important to our success. Only by not judging others and by gathering the real facts will we operate our business and relationships in the most effective way. It’s up to all of us to get better at this, starting with me. It’s not easy, but wouldn’t you want others to treat you in this manner? If so, let’s give our peers that same level of respect to listen and learn from their perspective.