Perfect Communication
We’re just trying to muddle through and somehow manage to get things done without anyone getting killed.
The Pipe Dream of Perfect Communication
Communication is a common but vital activity. If I asked you you’d say you were quite good at it yes? It’s good to talk isn’t it? That’s the way we all get on and things progress.
Well….Not really.
It’s probably better to think of it as the way we muddle through and somehow manage to get things done without anyone getting killed.
Mis-communication is more the norm.
The Myth of Perfect Communication
Remember the old fax, or maybe the photocopier?
The copied image was always a blurry iteration of the original.
Remember Chinese Whispers where the message ends up being quite different from the original?
That’s the way it really works.
Think about the mechanics of communication for a moment.
I have a thought. I frame that thought using my view of the world (different from yours). I then translate that thought into words. Those words are articulated either by sound or writing.
The advantage of the spoken voice is the addition of tone, stress and other things which add to
and qualify the meaning and intent. If writing you have to add this additional nuance using only
words.
The message then goes via sound waves or vision across the distance between us and into your brain. (plenty of scope for misunderstanding on the journey). You then interpret the message using your vocabulary and view of the world. You are then supposed to know exactly what I was thinking?
Duh! What was I thinking!
I can see the ideal of perfect communication slipping through my fingers like fine sand.
So communication. That it happens at all is marvellous. That it happens so well is a miracle.
Improve Your Communication
Want to improve your communication?
Start thinking of ways to finesse your communication, ways to get it to be a little bit better, to remove ambiguity and the possibility of misinterpretation.
The things you can do to double-check understanding (both for what you say and what you
hear).
Remember – we’re just trying to muddle through and somehow manage to get things done without anyone getting killed.
Check out Impact Factory’s Communication, Assertiveness and Personal Impact courses.
Perfect Communication
By Robin Chandler, Director, Impact Factory
