Sunday Firesides: Don't Confuse Impact With Intention

Someone says something (or doesn’t). You get a text (or don’t). And something in the message (or lack thereof) makes you feel bad/sad/angry/snubbed.

Very often we then make the perilous leap described by the authors of Difficult Conversations: “We assume intentions from the impact on us.” That is, we judge the intent behind someone’s action based on how …