In your day to day interactions it is difficult to look back and reflect on something you have said/done, unless you e-mailed it. How lovely it is that technology keeps track of the conversation we have via e-mail. Occasionally this comes in handy, like it did for me today.
Recently I put a team into a sports league not knowing what I was getting myself into. Two weeks later I sit frustrated, and defeated, all because of an ignorant assumption. Reflecting on what happened I searched to the root of the problem and the why behind it. All it came down to is an e-mail that should have been reviewed before sending, that’s it. If this person would have reviewed what he wrote before sending I think he would have caught his ignorant assumption and changed his tone and argument. He never reviewed it, and now I am left to think of this gentlemen as less of a person because of the udder idiocy that is attached to an ignorant assumption.
When you assume something that is completely outlandish, inhuman or plain illogical people make their own assumptions about yourself, especially if they do not know you very well. Conflict is unavoidable but ignorant assumptions within conflict immediately makes you down grade the conflict to a misunderstanding because of the others metal capacity on the given issue. When someone assumes something that is ignorant, we as humans place judgement, not intentionally, but in the back of your mind you know exactly how you feel about this person.
Sympathy you say? Yes you need to have it with friends and colleagues but towards people that have a position of power that should be reviewing their own e-mails, no. I’ll keep you updated to see if we in fact did get in the league, as for my adversary that needs a lesson on e-mail etiquette, please, use the phone next time.
