The " I Know I Know " Mindset

" I know I know ".

Have you ever come accross anyone where before you could finish your sentence, he or she will tell you "I know I know"? Well, what will be your normal reaction towards this type of people? Will you continue with what you are going to say or will you just stop saying what you want to say?

Recently, I came across two incidences where the " I know I know" type of person have creating problem for themselves.

Incident 1

A friend of mine invited his client for lunch at a well known restaurant recently. However, before my friend could finish his sentence, his client told him "I know, I know " I know the restaurant very well and I will be there on time. Assuming his client knew where the restaurant is, my friend did not further elaborate on the location of the restaurant. My friend went there on time to wait for him. However, after an hour of waiting for him, he still did not not turn up for the appointment. My friend sensed that something had gone wrong and he gave him a call to check where about was he? When his client picked up his call, he was a bit annoyed and told my friend that he was waiting for him at the restaurant. My friend told him he was at the restaurant too and he couldn't see him. Eventually, they found out that they were at the same restaurant but different location! Both of them have a good laugh and have to re-arrange their appointment to another day.

Incident 2

A Production Manager told his Supervisor that Sales Department has requested for a specified product to be delivered to the customers in three weeks time. The Supervisor told the Production Manager, "I know, I know " I know what is the product the Sales Department required and will get ready on time. Thinking that the Supervisor knew what he was supposed to produce, the Production Manager left the production floor and went back to his room. On the second week, the Production Manager went to check with the Supervisor to see whether the product could be produced on time. His anger arose when he saw what they were making is different from the requisition. What was requested by the Sales Dept. was the same product but of different color. The Supervisor argued with the Production Manager that normally during these period of time, the customers will be requesting the color he was making. The Supervisor was not aware that the color trend has changed this year. A costly mistake made by both the Production Manager and the Supervisor!

The moral of the above two true stories are : We must be humble at all time and do not assume what other people want from us is what we are thinking of! ASSUMPTION kills us at time! And, it is always good to paraphrase to ensure clear communication.