Mental model · People
Intent and impact
Intent and impact: People judge themselves by what they meant and others by what happened. Both sides do it simultaneously.
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People judge themselves by what they meant and others by what happened. Both sides do it simultaneously.
Try it now
Take a moment where you upset someone. Write what you intended and what actually landed.
What to do with the answer
Acknowledge the impact without defending the intent. Defending the intent is what makes the conversation worse.
Where it misleads
Intent does matter for what happens next. This is about the order you address them in, not about ignoring it.
The module it belongs to
- Reflective Thinking — Examine your own reasoning
The book behind it
- Difficult conversations — Its big ideas, in our own words.