
Show HN: A short game to know if you're good running 1:1s - soneca
https://www.oneonemeeting.com/choose-your-own-adventure.html
======
porphyrogene
Asking them an esoteric question will make them uncomfortable but a personal
question that addresses specific members of their family by name is going to
put them at ease?

This reminded me of the episode of The Office where Dwight steals Micheal's
Rolodex to get information on his clients and it leads to him asking, "How's
your gay son? ... Tony? The homosexual sophomore?" If you don't know someone
intimately don't try to fake an intimate connection. The very next part of
this quiz encouraged me to be upfront and honest instead of hiding behind
excuses and managerial tricks. What if he were upfront and honest in response
to the personal question and told you that his wife calls him a poor father
and insults his manhood, are you ready to pivot to that subject? Can you
reasonably expect him to answer that question dishonestly and if he needs to
do so in order to avoid an awkward conversation then hasn't the question
failed its purpose of opening an honest dialogue? What if this is a
performance review and the result is somewhat negative? Is he to understand
that his poor relationship with his wife had some bearing on his negative
performance review? If not then why would you bring it up in that context? A
relationship can thrive on one of two things: complete honesty or respectful
boundaries.

Maybe I am too sensitive about personal questions but that question doesn't
seem appropriate. Also, esoteric conversation starters are great. I would much
rather talk about why I would want to be a sunchoke than give a generic
response without actually thinking about my answer.

~~~
soneca
I understand, but in this fictional situation, I added an explanation why that
question was ok (because Sancho mentioned his family often, implying that is
regular subject in their conversation). Maybe I should also make it clear that
it is not always ok, depend on the relationship

