Interpretation is a crucial aspect. Understanding the situation is more important and the Interpretation coming from that understanding determines the success or failure of the conversation.
Recently, I attended a talk. During the talk, the speaker was speaking on the benefits of Asking and how many times do you ask. She provided many examples and asked the audience for their experiences in asking. One participant was very clear that there is no absolute result in asking and he does not believe asking is an important in solving any problems. When the presenter asked if he can substantiate what he said, he said “I believe so.”
What happens when we go with our belief’s is that we get struck to our experiences. There more than 6 Billion people on this plant and quite surely, one or the other would have experienced what we are going through right now and the kind of problem we wish to solve. Depending on the experience the person has, he/she would provide an insight to what the ‘probable’ result would be; but they are not sure.
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, Interpretation is a story or description that is different in some way from another person’s story or description.
When starting a conversation with anyone – be it family, boss, colleague or in a meeting, what usually happens is that we go with certain thoughts/assumptions on the topic to be discussed and when the conversation starts, we tend to go by what we are thinking. However, this is not the way it needs to be handled. We need to listen, understand the other persons perspective and then take the conversation forward.
This is easier said than done. I have been trying to practice this over the last year and to be quite honest, it has been really tough. However, as I continued my practice, I am seeing the joy of the outcome of conversations.
To Interpret is easy, to understand is tough.