Simulation vs. Animation: The Art of Interpreting and Paraphrasing
At Sprint, my team is currently doing a project re-engineering business processes at one of the lowest-performing call-centers in the company. In short, we come to their site and tell them how they can make more money.
To visualize the new operating model that we recommended, the director of this call center demanded a that we show them a simulation of this new model. Just like any academics would tell you, simulation is a tool in which you enter some conditions and see how the outputs will look like. In other words, you don’t know what the end result is going to be. However, in this case, we already took them through detailed calculations to prove that this new system will work and it makes prefect business sense.
Even though this request seemed unreasonable, we did it anyways to make our client happy. Thus, I spent a tremendous amount of time developing a simulation tool that will visualize the new process. The simulation engine is a pain in the behind to develop because it has to think like my brain.
After the first showcase and several discussions, we figured out that what they meant by simulation is an animation of how the production floor will look like visually. Duh!
Lesson learned
People don’t always say what they mean to say, some people always don’t say what they mean to say, and some people always say what they don’t mean to say. Therefore, learn to interpret what the other party is communicating, take it with a grain of salt, ask a lot of questions, and ask exactly what they want. One of the things that I learned in TBP Leadership Skills Workshop is to paraphrase. For example, in this case, I could’ve asked for more clarification,
Call Center Director: “Can you guys show us some simulation?”
Me: “What exactly do you guys want?”
CCD: “I want to see how the production floor will look like at any given hour. Also, I want you to show … and …”
Me: “So, you want us to display XXX and XXX, so that you guys can check the ratio of supervisor per agent at any given hour. Do I understand you correctly?“
Why paraphrase?
To get a more in-depth understanding.
Show respect to the other party.
How to paraphrase?
Listen closely and pay attention.
Use your own words.
What are some phrases I can use to paraphrase?
So you are saying…
So you believe…
If I understand you correctly…
Let me be sure that…



