Why did my manager snap at me?
A. Because my manager is a bad person
B. Perhaps because we were rushing to meet a tight deadline
Why does my manager routinely push us to meet tight deadlines?
A. Because my manager is a ruthless person
B. Perhaps because my manager needs to learn how to manage timelines better
Why does my manager struggle with meeting timelines despite so much experience?
A. Because my manager is an incompetent person
B. Perhaps because they have a lot on their plate
Why does my manager have too much on their plate?
A. Because my manager is a terrible person
B. Perhaps because my manager struggles with prioritization
When we face any problem with another person, our mind defaults to judging that person’s character. However, doing so brings our thinking to an abrupt end and prevents us from understanding and fixing the root cause of the problem.
Looking past the symptom to address the root cause requires us to look past our default answer as to why that problem exists.
Observations 