Weekly Voice Insights #105 -What Happens Before the Solution?
“Test what appears good and hold to what truly is.”
— Based on Epictetus, Enchiridion 45
I was recently invited to take part in a podcast discussion about “solution identification” in business analysis. When I received the proposed questions, I first had to ask myself where my work with voice entered the discussion.
As I read through the questions, the connection became clearer. "Solution identification" is not only about producing an answer. It involves understanding the problem, considering possible ways forward, and deciding which possibility is useful in a particular situation. All of that happens through conversation.
One of the questions asked how a Business Analyst knows when it is time to move from understanding the problem to identifying solutions. Another asked how analysts and stakeholders can keep from moving toward a solution too early.
Those questions are very much about voice.
What Happens to My Listening Once I Have an Answer?
In conversation, timing matters. I may begin preparing my response before the other person has completed the thought. But once I have begun forming it, part of my attention has already moved away from what the other person is saying.
The same thing can happen when someone recognizes a possible solution. Instead of continuing to investigate the problem, the person begins listening for information that supports the answer already in mind.
Leadership requires knowing when to give clear direction and when to leave room for another person to respond. That choice begins with intention. The same distinction applies when a group is working toward a solution. There is a time to guide the discussion and a time to remain quiet long enough for another possibility to emerge.
Attachment Can Be Heard
No one has to announce, “I am now defending my preferred solution.” The change often becomes audible.
Urgency can change the breath and pace, moving the voice away from the original intention. Uncertainty can create an urge to regain control, particularly when the discussion moves away from the prepared plan. The question then becomes: Where does my attention go when the conversation takes an unexpected turn, and how do I bring it back into focus?
Tone also affects how a possible solution is received. An idea presented with confidence can sound more complete than it actually is. Another idea may receive less consideration because the person presenting it sounds hesitant. If that happens, the group may be responding to the delivery rather than evaluating the substance of the solution.
Epictetus’ instruction is useful here: test what appears good. A solution that sounds convincing still has to be examined in relation to the problem, the people involved, and what the organization can actually do.
More Answers Require More Judgment
Another question asked what the Business Analyst adds if artificial intelligence can generate dozens of potential solutions in seconds.
AI can certainly make more possibilities available. It can organize information, identify patterns, suggest alternatives, and make a detailed answer sound remarkably complete. But producing possibilities and deciding what to do with them are different activities.
I considered a similar distinction in last week’s Voice Insight. After spending a lifetime learning about voice, the harder question was not whether I had enough information. It was what to do with all of it. I may know a great deal about a subject, but I cannot place all of it into one lesson, one presentation, or one conversation. At some point I have to decide what is useful right now.
AI gives us more information than ever, but it doesn’t take away the responsibility of choosing what actually matters and deserves our attention.
Those evaluating the options still have to ask:
- Was the problem described accurately?
- What assumptions entered the prompt?
- Whose perspective is missing?
- Does an answer that appears reasonable apply to the situation at hand?
My own use of AI often becomes an act of listening. AI usually gives me more language than I need. When I hear it read aloud, I can recognize what should remain, what reflects what I actually believe, and what still needs to be put into my own voice. The answer is not complete simply because it has been produced. I have to be able to say it and mean it.
Connection Is the Result
I have been preparing The Power of Your Voice: Skills for Crucial Conversations as both a presentation and a companion book. The framework is organized around four areas: intention, breath, tone, and connection. The first three can be prepared. Connection is the result.
A potential result depends on what another person receives. You may know more than the other person can use at once.
Notice:
- When does explanation become overload?
- Has a question gone unanswered?
- Has the most important concern been buried beneath additional information?
“Solution identification” may begin with analysis, but it does not remain on the page. People have to speak, listen, question, challenge, and decide. Listening includes hearing other people, but it can also mean listening back to my own delivery. I may know the subject so well that I do not hear how I sound while explaining it.
A recording creates some distance from the moment. It does not need to capture an entire presentation. I can record one or two points as though I were speaking directly to the audience, then listen back. Keeping the passage short makes it easier to compare what I intended with what can actually be heard and ask: If I were receiving this explanation, how might I respond?
Inner Check-In
- What happens to the way I listen and speak once I think I know the solution?
- If I heard my explanation from the listener’s place, what would I notice about my breath, pace, or tone—and how might I respond?
- When AI gives me more possibilities, how do I decide which ones deserve attention?
Find the DYAV newsletter, website, blog, reflection journal, and Voice Insights archive below:
https://linktr.ee/DYAVwithElias
or scan
#DevelopingYourAuthenticVoice #SolutionIdentification #BusinessAnalysis #ArtificialIntelligence #ListeningSkills #CommunicationSkills #StoicWisdom #Epictetus
No comments:
Post a Comment