Asking the Additional Question

Have you ever gone off on someone only to find out that what you had been told and thought was the truth had been distorted by the person who told you? What I find most interesting is that the person telling you what you perceived to be the unequivocal truth honestly believed what they were telling you. Their intention was rock solid. They were not purposefully misleading you. You simply took their word as gospel, ran with it, and abused another person verbally and, subsequently, mentally. And here's the part that really hurts... You were wrong! You didn't ask the additional question.

A few things come to mind almost immediately:

1. "Now who's the idiot?" (Obvious answer: Me)
2. How to avoid looking like an idiot in situations like this next time?
3. I need to apologize to the person I abused
4. I need to approach the person who first provided me with the information.

InsightBYg Suggestions:

1. When facing any type of explosive situation - PAUSE
2. Ask yourself, who else should I reach out to in an effort to correlate facts - THINK
3. Gather the "Three Sides to Every Story" - (yours, mine, and the truth) - COLLECT
4. While collecting information - ASK THE ADDITIONAL QUESTION!
5. When calling the person you need to approach, use an opening statement such as, "Someone called me with a complaint (or issue or problem, etc) and I'd like to share what I heard. Is that ok?" - SHOW RESPECT

Doing so will diffuse most situations and help to avoid egg on your face.