Communication – our words are more powerful than measure.

The importance of communication seems to be dismissed in our society. In school we learn how to read and write, but never on how to speak to one another or how to listen. We are assumed to have these habits engrained in our DNA – although if we did we would have all done the same, with respect to grades, in school.

In the sea of corporate culture there is another focus and numbers focus – how to read financial data. What the numbers say is usually created from calculations that are sometimes compared to what is already known. Depending on how versed you are in reading these numbers (based on your background) will determine your ability to interpret their meaning.

When Microsoft builds its products, it uses existing knowledge of what products came before. Even though it is a new product it is built from the same form. As result we might see similar type errors in upgrading software. This was also the reason for the mass hysteria surrounding the Y2K concerns of computers shutting down our societies.

When we communicate there is typically and transmitter and a receiver. If the receiver has an experience base different than the transmitter the information sent by the transmitter will be altered and thus the communication may be foiled (IE: a miscommunication.)

It similar to the childhood game Broken Telephone. If I whisper a word into an individual’s ear – they have a certain experience of this word and they compare it to what the already know and then alter it. Then they whisper into another person’s ear that second person has a unique experience of the word and compares it to their unique experience and alters it and the process gets carried on through many different parties we will find at the end the word has changed and probably doesn’t sound anything like the original word.

Now think about your day-to-day interactions with the individuals around you. How many misunderstandings do you have in a day? How many times is a person interpreting your actions and words and not understanding what you are communicating? Probably with every conversation you have. The reason for this is because there are many things blocking you communication.

In the next little while we will be exploring these items through this blog. I would love to hear your examples as we go through unlocking your communication power.

Tracy Slotin
CEO and Grand Sandmaster
The Executive Sandbox® Change Consultants
www.ExecutveSandbox.com