A stranger walks into a neighbourhood on the outskirts of town and sees a man sitting on a veranda, a dog by his side.
" Hey mister, does your dog bite?"
The local man replies no and the stranger continues on his way. Minutes later, the dog rushes after him and bites his leg. The stranger bleeding and indignant hobbles back to the man on the veranda and shouts angrily
" Hey, I thought you said your dog didn't bite?"
" That's right, that aint my dog."
And that's the problem with communication. One side thinks the other understands what's been said. How many times have you heard the expressions:
"That's not what I said" or " That's not what I meant ".
The quality of your communication affects the quality of your daily existence. Be bitten or not. Be understood or not.
In a recent survey within a large government organisation about the perception of the quality of an internal service, the problem could be reduced to a sinlge word.
Communication. Kinda convenient dont you think? Let me explain.
How can we communicate more effectively?
What Makes Sense
Before we answer the question, I should add an important caveat. I would think that after 50 years on this planet, I 'd have some knowledge about how things work. But No, No, No, No, No. Thinking you know about something for certain, you might as well throw the rule book out the window. You've closed yourself off to learning. Not a good idea.
Lets look at how we communicate with oursleves. If I smell whitewash I am immediately transported back to a small village in Ireland, our back yard in the early 1950's sitting on the backlawn of our council house. The sun is shining and I have a nice warm feeling. I am there. I can see the house. It's bright and it's white. I can smell the whitewash. And I am happy.
How did that happen?
" Hey mister, does your dog bite?"
The local man replies no and the stranger continues on his way. Minutes later, the dog rushes after him and bites his leg. The stranger bleeding and indignant hobbles back to the man on the veranda and shouts angrily
" Hey, I thought you said your dog didn't bite?"
" That's right, that aint my dog."
And that's the problem with communication. One side thinks the other understands what's been said. How many times have you heard the expressions:
"That's not what I said" or " That's not what I meant ".
The quality of your communication affects the quality of your daily existence. Be bitten or not. Be understood or not.
In a recent survey within a large government organisation about the perception of the quality of an internal service, the problem could be reduced to a sinlge word.
Communication. Kinda convenient dont you think? Let me explain.
How can we communicate more effectively?
What Makes Sense
Before we answer the question, I should add an important caveat. I would think that after 50 years on this planet, I 'd have some knowledge about how things work. But No, No, No, No, No. Thinking you know about something for certain, you might as well throw the rule book out the window. You've closed yourself off to learning. Not a good idea.
Lets look at how we communicate with oursleves. If I smell whitewash I am immediately transported back to a small village in Ireland, our back yard in the early 1950's sitting on the backlawn of our council house. The sun is shining and I have a nice warm feeling. I am there. I can see the house. It's bright and it's white. I can smell the whitewash. And I am happy.
How did that happen?
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