The Interview
My first interview provided a lot of inspiration and guidance. An informal conversation, we discussed our thoughts on leadership, emotional intelligence, how both work together, and what’s the best ‘go to’ at The Corner Room. I tried the bison burger.
The discussion centered on how someone can practice servant leadership from a non-traditional leadership position and/or in a very dynamic environment. One potential solution is to correctly communicate expectations. My interviewee came from an environment that relied heavily on project management and believes looking through that lens really helped him communicate expectations and build trust. In his experience, one tool in particular has helped a lot when communicating to senior leaders: the Iron Triangle.
The Triangle
“Pick any two; you can’t have all three.” That’s how the Iron Triangle works. If you want to increase the scope of the project, then either “resources” or “time” must follow. This simple illustration really helps explain the correlation between the three concepts. One of the most important, yet hard, thing to do is to correctly communicate how much time and resources you need. It’s seems a little backwards, but saying “no” when you don’t have enough of either can actually build trust. Using the triangle can help you say no.
The Creative Venn Diagram
Interestingly, I have experienced with the “you can pick two” philosophy from my advertising background. I’ve used above venn diagram before as a way to manage exceptions, costs, and deadlines with clients.
Conclusion
After being introduced to the triangle a quickly found a lot of discussion and alternative versions. One swapped quality and scope. I’m excited to try the triangle out for my next project and read more about it. Hopefully, it will help me improve my communication skills, expectation management, and build trust among those I work with.
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