You may want to....

Have you been in a meeting when a person starts speaking where he begins the sentence with "You may want to"? I have heard this phrase numerous time. Every time I hear this, I become alert. In my experience, this phrase is used when the speaker does not want to involve himself with what is happening in front of him. At the same time, he knows everyone is overlooking something simple and a train crash is imminent. 

Recently, I was in a meeting where one of my friend started off with this sentence. I was thrown off guard on hearing this and took a few seconds to recover. Since my friend is the one who is ultimately responsible for what was being discussed, I expected him to be more vocal. Instead he decided to be a good guy. A very good who was nudging everyone in the right direction whereas he should have been the bad guy twisting our arms in order to make everyone fall back in line.

When I confronted my friend on his persuasion style after the meeting, the truth tumbled out. He was being rolled off from the project. As a result, he has attained the state of nirvana where nothing bothers him any more. That makes me wonder. Do we care less when the end is in sight?

Tags: Musings,Meeting,Persuasion

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Comments

  1. I'd say so - it comes from deep within that our opinion doesn't matter - sad really, if the attachment has been long.

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    1. I have also seen the other case. Even on the last working day, people help in making decisions without resorting to "You may want to" caveat. :)

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  2. It's more a way of saving their own a**, so that later they can say, I told you to do it but you didn't listen.

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    1. I understand that. That is why I said distancing oneself. That way, there is no involvement on how things turn out to be.

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  3. Yes, we tend to care less if it doesn't concern us...

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    1. Why? Since we spent some time on it, we should be concerned even if we are not associated with it anymore!

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  4. What else could your friend say in that situation?

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  5. Haha, Well, it depends on one's perspective I guess. If you feel none of your actions would actually matter, why take the pain. But of-course, not everyone is alike.

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    1. In my opinion, you shouldn't hesitate to tell the unwelcome truth. We should concentrate on telling what needs to be done instead what people needs to hear. :)

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