Exercise 1: Observation or Evaluation?
Which statements include observations, free of evaluation? Translate statements with evaluations into possible observations.
- “Raj pounded on the table and said he was tired of the tone police.”
- “Jane didn’t ask me to come to the affinity group meeting.”
- “My boss is a good manager.”
- “Lila works long hours.”
- “Bob was furious with me yesterday and he left for no reason.”
- “Mika has a lot of power.”
- “Shaun was the first one to leave every day this week.”
- “The two teams rarely speak to each other.”
- “Tony told me my filing system was amazing.”
- “Wasim complained about me and implied that I was insensitive to people from the global south.”
Our responses
- We see this is an observation without evaluation. It may be more accurate to say, “Raj hit his fist on the table and said, ‘I am tired of the tone police.’”
- If you checked this number, we agree that this is an observation without evaluation.
- We consider “good manager” to be an evaluation. An observation without evaluation might be: “My boss has had no turnover in his department for 6 years.”
- We consider “long hours” to be an evaluation. An observation without evaluation might be, “Lila spent 60 hours at the office this week.”
- We consider “for no reason” to be a judgment. It’s an inference that Bob was furious. Maybe he was frightened, worried, sad or shocked. An observation without an evaluation might be: “Bob said he was furious,” or “Bob shook his fist before leaving the room.”
- We consider “a lot of power” to be an evaluation. An observation without evaluation might be: “Mika has final decision making authority for a 20 million dollar budget.”
- This is an observation without evaluation.
- We consider “rarely” an evaluation. An observation without evaluation might be: “The two team haven’t spoken together since last month.”
- This is an observation of a statement by Tony that includes an evaluation (amazing).
- We consider “complained” to be an evaluation. An observation without evaluation might be: “Wasim said that the meeting times were convenient for people in the global north, but not for folks in Asia.”
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