Page 65 - Making Instruction Work

chap 5 3/11/97 4:49 PM Page 53

goal analysis 53

NOTE: When trying to determine the meaning of some-
one else’s fuzzy, there’s a right way and wrong way to go
about it. The wrong way is to ask someone to write down
what they mean by the fuzzy. This is intimidating and
threatening and won’t get you very far, because they won’t
know how to do what you’ve asked. They won’t know
what they mean by their fuzzies without some serious
thought. The right way is to do it yourself. Write out what
you think the vague terms mean, and then show it to the
other person while asking, “If __________ did these
things, would that satisfy you?” It’s a lot easier for people
to fix things than to create them.

Remember that when someone speaks to you in fuzzies,
they are abdicating to you the power to say what they mean.
Grab it! Say what you think the fuzzy should mean, and then
offer it for approval.

ANOTHER NOTE: Don’t do goal analyses in a group—
it’ll take forever. If you must get the agreement of others
on the meaning, work with one person at a time. Other-
wise, you may be “grouped” or “teamed” to a frazzle.
Besides, working one-on-one helps spare the loss of face
when the fuzzy-utterer discovers how simply the fuzzy
can be defined.