CARE Scenario Walkthrough
A single workplace scenario worked through the Think / Say / Do method, showing how a CARE behaviour is actually taught.
The problem it solves
Inclusion training tends to teach principles and hope behaviour follows. This shows the opposite order: a specific situation, the response options available, and what each one actually produces.
In a morning stand-up, a team member says: “Could I get the actions in writing after these? I lose track when it’s all verbal.” Three colleagues are waiting to speak. The meeting is already four minutes over.
You have roughly two seconds. What do you say?
Before choosing: the request is information about the process, not about the person. Notice the instinct to treat it as a favour being asked.
Choose a response to see how it plays out.
The request is granted, and the colleague is now the only person receiving instructions in a different format from everyone else. The arrangement depends entirely on you remembering, every time. When you are on leave, it lapses.
Acknowledge — met. Respect — partially. The response is warm but treats the need as an individual exception rather than a design signal.
Individual accommodation. Reactive, fragile, and dependent on one person's memory.
The colleague now has to justify the request in front of the team, disclose more than they intended, or withdraw it. Most people withdraw it. You will not hear the request again — which will feel like it was resolved.
Consider — missed. The question assumes the current format is the default and the request is the deviation requiring explanation.
No change made. The demand was never assessed; the person was.
The colleague gets what they asked for without being marked out. Three other people quietly stop asking you to repeat things. The practice survives your absence because it belongs to the meeting, not to a person.
Consider, Acknowledge and Respect all met. The need is treated as information about the process rather than about the individual.
Task redesign. The incidental demand — retaining verbal instruction under time pressure — was removed for everyone.
This is how a CARE behaviour is actually taught: a specific situation, the response options genuinely available under time pressure, and what each one produces. Notice that the strongest option is not the kindest-sounding one — it is the one that changes the design rather than granting an exception.