In the intelligence business, the worst thing that can happen is to miss available information that might have helped your client.
There is a very easy way to discourage people from telling you things, when someone comes to you with information, look them in the eye and say “I knew that!”
This efficiently conveys to them 3 things:
- How very smart you are
- “You are wasting my time.”
- If you feel the need to help me in the future, think twice
I used to find it frustrating when I would get multiple pieces of information from a variety of sources, and I also felt the desire to respond with “I knew that!”. I wanted to make it apparent that I already possessed the information key to my role. If I already had the information, I was just showing them I was competent right? Wrong!
If your job requires you to have timely access to information that impacts your success (as it probably does), you can’t afford to discourage those very people who feel a desire to pass on information to you. For whatever self motivation they have, they are taking time out of their day to help you out, which should be encouraged.
Instead, take pride in how many people come to you with information that you need. If you are receiving the information for a fifth time, reply with the same response as the first 4 times: “Thank you very much for the info, you awesome person.” It takes just a little bit more time than “I knew that!”, but it is time well spent.
Some day, that person that you just encouraged, will be responsible for bringing you that nugget that nobody else (including you) had their hands on!
PDF 
Recent Comments