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verb

reconcile

REK-un-sile

Hear it your way
  1. 01Understand
  2. 02Hear
  3. 03Distinguish
  4. 04See it used
  5. 05Choose how it lands
In plain English

To make two sets of figures agree by accounting for every difference.

Why it is worth having

It names the work of accounting for every difference between two records until nothing is left unexplained.

Not quite compare

Comparing tells you the two do not match. Reconciling is not finished until every difference has a reason attached to it.

Words it naturally keeps company with
reconcile the accountsreconcile the two versionshard to reconcile with
See it living in different rooms
work“It took the whole morning to reconcile the card statement with the receipts.”
argument“I cannot reconcile what you told the board with what you told me on Friday.”
thought“Two people described the same meeting, and I could not reconcile the accounts without deciding which of them to trust.”
How the wording lands

A junior colleague hopes a stock difference will sort itself out once the next delivery arrives.

Meaning held still: Make clear that someone has to do the work, without making them feel blamed for the gap.

Direct
“Stock does not reconcile itself. Let us do it together this afternoon and find out where it went.”

It lands as: States the principle and immediately makes the work shared rather than punitive.

Tradeoff: Leading with a correction still lands as a lesson, even when the help follows straight after.
Warm authority
“Let us walk the difference back to the day it started. It is usually one entry.”

It lands as: Makes an intimidating job sound finite and routine, which is what gets it started today.

Tradeoff: Promising it is usually one entry makes it feel much worse when it turns out to be eleven.
Restrained
“I need the two figures to agree by Friday, with a reason for every difference.”

It lands as: Names the standard and the deadline and leaves the method to them.

Tradeoff: It hands a hard task over with no offer of help, which a junior may not know how to ask for.

Watch for: Reconciling is not adjusting one number until the totals match. If a difference has no explanation, the work is not finished.

First met in The Reconciliation. Saving keeps that example with the word.

Words worth having

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02The promise

Useful words, not ornament.

Every word should make a thought easier to name, a sentence easier to shape, or another person easier to understand.

  1. 1
    Understand

    Begin with plain English and a sound you can follow.

  2. 2
    Distinguish

    See why a familiar nearby word is not quite the same.

  3. 3
    Use

    Meet the word in more than one kind of sentence.

  4. 4
    Choose

    Hold the intention still and notice how the wording changes its landing.

“The word is learned
when it becomes available.”

Opening or saving is never called mastery. Evidence begins only when you recall and use the word.