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How to ThinkIn the Age of AI
Principlev1PR-2121

Express cross-functional requests in the target function's…

Express cross-functional requests in the target function's schema by identifying the isomorphism between your concern and their priorities, using their vocabulary, metrics, and quality criteria.

Why This Is a Principle

Grounds to Different functions develop different schemas as adaptive… (different functions develop different schemas), Meaning as Receiver Construction (meaning is constructed by receivers using their own mental models), and Schemas as Knowledge Organization Structures (schemas organize knowledge). This prescribes a specific translation procedure that follows from the reality that functional schemas differ. It's actionable (find isomorphism, restate) and generalizable.

Source Lessons

Cross-functional schema translation

Different functions speak different cognitive languages — not just different jargon, but different schemas for what matters, what quality means, and how success is measured. Cross-functional collaboration requires translation between these schemas: the ability to understand another function's mental model well enough to express your concerns in their terms and to interpret their concerns in yours.

Connections

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