Benefit of the Doubt
Aug 09, 2023
Benefit of the Doubt
The ability to genuinely give others benefit of the doubt can be a superpower. It’s not always easy, but when this precious gift is granted with wisdom, discernment, and grace, it can be one of the healthiest and most productive gifts granted for both the giver and the receiver. And in our pursuit to inspire creative collaboration, please don’t doubt it’s a benefit to all of us to hone our skill to give and receive… the benefit of the doubt.
On that journey to inspire, and create, and collaborate together, what does it mean to actually give one another the benefit of the doubt? It’s a strange term that can be easily misconstrued to actually encourage doubt, if we look at it, stay on it, analyze it for too long. To avoid that interpretation, this is the best way I can describe it in simple, positive terms: Benefit of the doubt is when we are able - as leaders, teachers, coaches, presenters - to believe something good about our colleagues, our students, our players, our audience, rather than something bad, when we have the possibility of perceiving things either way.
In Game On terms, we have a “good to do” to help us navigate and stay open-minded and on a creative track when we’re in the collaborative process called “B.O.D. for 5”. Given the circumstances, the relationship, the timeline, the stakes, the trust, and so much more, that “5” could be 5 seconds, 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 days. That amount of time given will be dictated by our wisdom, discernment, and grace, and this technique has allowed our team to default to the positive and approach our collaborate process from a much more productive lens.
However we look at it, stay on it, analyze it, we’re all better off - in the spirit of collaboration - if we can give a team, a group of people, an individual, an idea, or a suggestion some time. That time might be seconds, minutes, hours, or days. Whatever time you chose, I highly encourage all of us to focus on defaulting to believing the good rather than the bad, when we have the possibility of doing either.
In other words, the benefits for all involved will outweigh the doubt, and that’s a benefit for your organization, your team, your people, your community, and you… without a doubt.
Benefit On. Game On.
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