Fearless Performance Reviews: Coaching Conversations that Turn Every Employee into a Star Player

CHAPTER7UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS OF THE COLLABORATIVE MINDSET

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eye for an instant?

—Henry David Thoreau

If we define assumptions as the stories that we tell ourselves in order to help us interpret the way the world and people operate, then it’s fair to say that those who use a collaborative mindset tell themselves stories that are very different than those told by my-way unilateralists. These assumptions create openness and receptivity to new ideas and information, which enhances understanding and strengthens relationships—especially when there is disagreement. Let’s examine how the values of the collaborative mindset emerge in a powerful set of underlying assumptions ...