What is your golden rule?

I was recently reading the Bobiverse series–a very geeky and entertaining sci-fi saga–where the main character has contact with other civilizations. At some point in a conversation, our protagonist mentions the golden rule:

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

It was very interesting to see how the friendly alien says that is not their golden rule but their silver rule. Their golden rule is:

Treat others the way they want to be treated.

I am always open to new lessons and this one was mind-boggling.

Now I wonder in how many occasions I have treated others the way I wanted to be treated without realizing that was a completely wrong approach.

Please take this as a reminder that even if we have the best intentions, our actions might not translate as well as we think.

• Assume positive intent
• Be kind
• Ask for what you need

Please help me out by being very explicit about what you need. Do you want me to play the role of a coach and make open ended-questions? do you want suggestions on a technical issue? do you want me to keep quiet and listen to you? do you want my opinion? please be as open and clear as you can. I want to help and if I have to guess, chances are I will get it wrong 🙂