Someone comes to you with a problem. What's your first move? For a lot of us, there's a pull to just solve it, hand over the answer, and feel useful. It's a natural instinct. It's also, more often than not, the least helpful thing you can do.
This episode walks through a model I've used in workshops for years: five levels of intention, from combatant at the bottom right up to co-creator at the top. Each level sounds different, asks different questions, and leaves the other person with something different. Underneath it all is one idea: intent determines impact. Your technique matters less than what you're actually trying to do underneath the words.
In this solocast, you'll get:
- The five levels of intention, from combatant through to co-creator, and what each one sounds like in a real conversation
- Why solving someone's problem for them can quietly teach them nothing but the shape of your answers
- A second lens, attention in, attention out, and a tension between, that's arguably more useful than the levels themselves
- Why your job gets easier, not harder, once your attention shifts off yourself
- A simple fishing metaphor for the difference between catching someone's fish and teaching them to fish
- One thing to try this week: picking a single conversation and moving up just one level
Timestamps
(00:09) The pull to give someone the answer, and why it's not actually help
(02:08) The ladder: level zero, the combatant, and level one, the troubleshooter
(04:08) Level two, the advisor, and level three, the enabler
(06:27) Level four, co-creator, and the second lens: attention in, out, and between
(08:32) Your centre of gravity, and one thing to try this week
I've put the whole model, all five levels, the questions that go with each one, and the fishing language, into a free one-page PDF. Download it here: https://digbyscott.com/five-levels-of-intention
There's also a longer written version of this model on my website: https://digbyscott.com/thoughts/intent-determines-impact
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