Facts or Opinions? Communication Tips for Accuracy

In Plato’s, The Republic, he states that opinions are the “medium between knowledge and ignorance.”

More recently, in 2018, Pressbook advised readers and writers:

”A fact is a specific detail that is true [and] based on objective proof. A fact is discovered.”

“An opinion is an interpretation, value judgment, or belief that cannot be proved or disproved. An opinion is created. Objective proof can be physical evidence, an eyewitness account, or the result of an accepted scientific method. Most people’s points of view and beliefs are based on a blend of fact and opinion.

My list of what to focus on is, “acts, facts and events,” and what to drop is, “conclusions, opinions, projections, and/or attribution of motivation.” At its heart, my list is about the frequency with which we use our opinions to draw conclusions about others, and then act upon those conclusions. Sadly, this often leads us down the wrong path.

As a trained Zenger Miller facilitator, I admire all of the six principles enumerated by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman. For me, the most important is to “focus on the issue, situation or behavior, not the person.” Because of my training as a management labor lawyer, I substitute the word conduct for behavior. Thus, I state the principle as “focus on the issue, situation or conduct, not the person.” (My concern is that “behavior” is ambiguous, whereas conduct is concrete – either someone did or did not do something: behavior can be perceived as subjective, leaving organizations open to allegations of discrimination.)

So, how do we distinguish between facts and opinions in our daily lives? How do we avoid taking our opinions, drawing conclusions, and then acting upon them?

One How-To and Three Tips:

How-To: Acts, Facts, and Events: Drop Opinions, Conclusions, Projections, and/or Attribution of Motivation

#1: Own Up: Recognize You Have Opinions
#2: Invite Others to Challenge Those Opinions
#3: Be Willing to Trade in Those Opinions for Facts

In a Harvard Business Review article in February 2022, the writer, Carmen Acton, described a story of how she relied upon her opinions to make a workplace decision, when the facts dictated otherwise:

“When I became a manager for the first time, I had a clear vision of my leadership style: I wanted to value my team and treat everyone with respect. . . A direct report, Bob, had joined the team right after high school . . . He had no college degree or certifications to his credit.

Unconsciously, I assumed Bob was less capable than others . . . and began to assign him less challenging projects, because [a college degree and] certifications show expertise, right?

‘Why aren’t you assigning Bob to that new project?’ a peer asked me one day. The more we discussed it, the more I realized that I’d assumed others to be more capable than Bob merely because they had a college degree.”

Tip #1: Own Up: Recognize You Have Opinions

Opinions in and of themselves are something all of us have. There is nothing inherently wrong with opinions. The concern is when we take those opinions, draw conclusions based upon those opinions, and act on them – often to someone else’s detriment, like Bob in the story cited.

Stop and consider whether the decision you are about to take is based on facts (“a specific detail that is true [and] based on objective proof. A fact is discovered.”) or opinion (“An opinion is an interpretation, value judgment, or belief that cannot be proved or disproved. An opinion is created.”)
If based upon an opinion, try substituting something fact-based.
Discuss the situation with a trusted advisor; if she or he offers up an alternative fact-based idea, consider following the advice.

Tip #2: Invite Others to Challenge Those Opinions

Ask another his or her advice, a la “I’m thinking of doing x, y, or z. I want to make sure I’ve made a fair decision. Your thoughts?”
Ask someone to play “Devil’s Advocate:” Try something like “I’m thinking of doing x, y, or z. Please poke holes in it – take an opposing view and let me have it.”
Pick the best, fact-based decision and then execute

#3: Be Willing to Trade in Those Opinions for Facts

Had Ms. Acton followed the tips, she would have recognized she was about to make a decision about Bob’s capabilities that was contrary to her own stated aspirational leadership style “I wanted to value my team and treat everyone with respect.”

A simple conversation with someone in the company who knew about Bob’s skills and abilities could have informed her decision. This knowledge would have allowed her to recognize that she was about to make a decision based upon a pre-existing opinion she held about the relationship between education and ability.

It’s a Wrap – One How-To and Three Tips: