see how quickly you get triggered into wanting to give advice. Give
yourself a day (or half a day, or an hour) and see how many times
you are ready and willing to provide the answer. A much-quoted
1984 study by Howard Beckman and Richard Frankel found that
the average time to interruption for doctors was eighteen seconds.
And while we can all roll our eyes and say “those doctors,” I’ve
seen plenty of managers and leaders who bat a similar average.
In short,
even though we don’t really know what
the issue is, or what’s going on for the
person, we’re quite sure we’ve got the
answer she needs.
“And what else?” breaks that cycle. When asking it becomes a
habit, it’s often the simplest way to stay lazy and stay curious. It’s
a self-management tool to keep your Advice Monster under
restraints.
You Buy Yourself Some Time
This is a secret. Just between you and me. As I’m sure I must have
mentioned and PUT IN CAPS and underlined in my bio somewhere in
this book, I was the first Canadian Coach of the Year. So I’m
whispering this to you as a professional, respected and decorated
coach.
When you’re not entirely sure what’s going on, and you need