MAGICAL ENCOUNTERS IN MUNICH
October 23, 2022“IMAGINE YOU’RE ALREADY ASLEEP…”
November 27, 2022Recently a friendly lady from a certain canton told me, with the intention of calming me down with these words.
I called because I didn’t understand a certain course of action.
I could hear on the phone that she smiled at the phrase “We are very special”. I immediately liked her.
I laughed along, because the consequence for the delay was also mild – according to the motto: “We ourselves are slow in delivery, so there are no negative significant consequences for you as the applicant”.
In general, people who question their approach themselves and respond to questions without defense are very sympathetic to me.
This makes an encounter, whether at an authority or not, very easy.
In the cases where I experienced it, we found a good solution together without driving each other crazy.
But this new case reminded me of how I was very surprised at the beginning of this Swiss word. The context of use was different than in Germany.
He is special.
The thing is so special.
The case is very special.
That was not clearly positive for me as in English (yes direct translations I did a lot:-))
And not negative either. Simply special, different, not ordinary.
I found this word to be cooler and cooler. A statement, not necessarily an evaluation.
If you come from Switzerland, this is my interpretation of the word “special”: How is it really meant so that I can learn from you today?
Since I know what effect quick reviews of fellow human beings have, I learned to use these words over time. These don’t help me to judge something or someone so quickly in a group conversation, just from a narrative.
These are:
📍That’s exciting.
📍That’s interesting.
📍Okay, I can’t judge that.
📍I’m not in it / You’re not in it.
📍I don’t know all the facts.
📍That’s one side of the story.
It’s a magical exercise that causes me not to judge others as quickly or not at all.
Professionally as an auditor, I always emphasize that it is about the matter, not about the people. Sometimes I wish that the audit principles would also apply to cultural encounters.
In striving to belong, you may sometimes forget your own values and what you set out to do.
I am helped by this sentence by Hans Rosling, who names 10 reasons why we are so wrong in his book “Factfulness”:
“Assume that people are not idiots. If something looks strange, be curious and humble. Consider: how is this a smart solution?”
How special are you?