Understanding & Action | 01/13
A beautifully written reply can leave an important question open. The organizer in our fictional seminar case explains an access problem clearly and sends a fresh link. The participant had asked to enter the seminar. What should count as success for that task?
The answer depends partly on the promise. If the promise was an explanation, the person needs an explanation they can use. If it was restored access, we need information about access. A convenient measure of the organizer’s activity captures only the event it measures.
Test that thought with two imagined replies from the participant. “I understand the explanation” and “I can enter the intended session” support different conclusions. Both are useful; each belongs to its own question.
A practical habit follows: name the result in terms that include the person receiving it, then look for information relevant to that result. Preserve what remains uncertain and who will handle it. A colleague should be able to continue from that record.
This is an invitation to examine a decision, rather than a report of a real service trial. The fairness and effort of the habit would need testing in its actual setting.
This question reaches beyond customer support. When our action concerns another person, how much of their situation survives in our definition of success? God and the Auditor explores that connection between understanding and action. I offer the book freely. Begin with one result you believe you have delivered and ask whose experience gives that belief its meaning.
Open essays and discussion:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/God_and_the_auditor
God and the Auditor — free PDF: https://zenodo.org/records/23126217/files/Temnik_God_and_the_Auditor_English_Editorial.pdf?download=1
God and the Auditor — free EPUB: https://zenodo.org/records/23126217/files/Temnik_God_and_the_auditor_English.epub?download=1