Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

No one lied, they just omitted some information. There are ways to find the omissions and those things are some of the more important pieces of information we need.

No one lied, they just omitted a few bits and pieces of information. And, oh, if we had those bits and pieces of information we would have understood so much better and done so much better for so many persons.

Information is important. It helps us do better for others. Sometimes, however, it hurts to deliver some information, so we simply don’t mention it. We didn’t lie about anything, we just didn’t say all we knew. That was okay, huh?

Ask context-free questions like,

• “Do you have any more information on this topic?”

That pulls a yes or no answer. Pay attention to the person answering. How much do they pause? Do they stop breathing? Do they look away to avoid answering? Pull more with more questions.

• “Is there something troubling you about this?”
• “Do you wish to talk more later?”
• “May I come see you later to discuss this more?”

There are kind ways to discover the omissions.