Standards and expectations
High standards are not the same as having high expectations.
An expectation is a future event.
A standard is a way of being. My standard is to be rigorous with my honesty, to act with integrity, and be as precise as possible with my words. Ethics and morals, as well as manners and actions, matter to me.
I expect myself to continue to act this way, even when faced with situations that might cause me to lose something I want. Said another way, I work hard to be congruent in my standards as they are challenged by events I did not expect.
The caveat on expectations is that I only have the right to expect from others what we have discussed as an agreed way of being, unless a promise has been made by them in context. For example, if I stay at a five-star hotel, the promise is made of five-star service. If that service doesn’t happen, my expectations will not be met.
All relationships should have negotiated standards of being. In Syntropic World, we call this the Trust Manifesto. In our relational design, people like us do things like this.
All relationships would also discuss and negotiate the expectations we hold of each other. In Syntropic World we call this the Synergistic Audit.
When both of these tools work together, when the field is clear of the usually unspoken, synergy happens.
We get to be brilliant together, and brilliance amplifies.
Photo Taken December 17th 2023, Article written November 4th 2024
