There were a few things about communication that I wanted to say last time but ran out of resources before I could get it all down.
One was this: good communication is, as they say in When Harry Met Sally, like a sense of humor, or taste: "Everybody thinks they have good taste or a sense of humor but they couldn't possible all have." That is also true of communication - even the worst communicator I ever met thought they were a good communicator and it's the other person who can't communicate. "Why can't you understand me?" is what people tend to lament, not "Why can't I understand you?"
Which is why it's hard to say, in any public or professional capacity, I am a good communicator. It's hard to raise your hand and say, do it this way, I know how how, everybody. Yet, that is basically what I have to do in my job; I craft and coordinate communications. It's not my only function, but it is a major one of them. I have a famously diverse job - the Associate Coordinator of Everything Else, one team leader says playfully (and there's no Coordinator of Everything Else, by the way, which makes the title funnier) - so communications are just one part, but a focus. I'm trying to make it better, and let me tell you it's a battle both uphill and rewarding.
But it does sometimes require - what? balls, maybe - to say shit no one else will, and in a way that people will actually listen to. To evern point out that there IS a problem. Stephen Colbert can do it - he talks about his balls of steel, and he really does some. It takes courage and charm, to say what usually goes unsaid. I don't mean always just being the court jester, or the guy from Network ("I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" One of the best moments in any anything ever).
I don't mean always being so obvious; but I'm talking about something more subtle yet just as effective, which is basically trying to convince people how much better the truth is, especially when you face it. Which is pretty much all communication is - when people have trouble stating the obvious (see previous entry), they can't pinpoint the truth, that's all. But that is hard, harder than most people thing.
That was one thing - good communicators are relatively rare, which may be why communication issues are so common and widespread.
The other thing was I've been thinking of is this the theory of communication that I heard of a long time ago, but has recently floated up into my conscious mind. I had to look it up just now to get it word for word, but it's basically this: communication is inevitable, irreversible and unrepeatable. These facts are not commonly considered, not frequently enough pondered. However, if you think of it, it's true, and it helps. Helps in communicating better, I mean.
Once you realize that no matter what you are doing, you are communicating something to someone, you start to consider what it is that you want to SAY. I do have things I want to say, and I do say them, sometimes. I don't always have time, but when I do, I write. I tell stories. I share tidbits. I blog. I write novel(las) in 72 hours. It's a multi-prong attack, clarity.
Anyway, communication. Think about it.
One was this: good communication is, as they say in When Harry Met Sally, like a sense of humor, or taste: "Everybody thinks they have good taste or a sense of humor but they couldn't possible all have." That is also true of communication - even the worst communicator I ever met thought they were a good communicator and it's the other person who can't communicate. "Why can't you understand me?" is what people tend to lament, not "Why can't I understand you?"
Which is why it's hard to say, in any public or professional capacity, I am a good communicator. It's hard to raise your hand and say, do it this way, I know how how, everybody. Yet, that is basically what I have to do in my job; I craft and coordinate communications. It's not my only function, but it is a major one of them. I have a famously diverse job - the Associate Coordinator of Everything Else, one team leader says playfully (and there's no Coordinator of Everything Else, by the way, which makes the title funnier) - so communications are just one part, but a focus. I'm trying to make it better, and let me tell you it's a battle both uphill and rewarding.
But it does sometimes require - what? balls, maybe - to say shit no one else will, and in a way that people will actually listen to. To evern point out that there IS a problem. Stephen Colbert can do it - he talks about his balls of steel, and he really does some. It takes courage and charm, to say what usually goes unsaid. I don't mean always just being the court jester, or the guy from Network ("I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" One of the best moments in any anything ever).
I don't mean always being so obvious; but I'm talking about something more subtle yet just as effective, which is basically trying to convince people how much better the truth is, especially when you face it. Which is pretty much all communication is - when people have trouble stating the obvious (see previous entry), they can't pinpoint the truth, that's all. But that is hard, harder than most people thing.
That was one thing - good communicators are relatively rare, which may be why communication issues are so common and widespread.
The other thing was I've been thinking of is this the theory of communication that I heard of a long time ago, but has recently floated up into my conscious mind. I had to look it up just now to get it word for word, but it's basically this: communication is inevitable, irreversible and unrepeatable. These facts are not commonly considered, not frequently enough pondered. However, if you think of it, it's true, and it helps. Helps in communicating better, I mean.
Once you realize that no matter what you are doing, you are communicating something to someone, you start to consider what it is that you want to SAY. I do have things I want to say, and I do say them, sometimes. I don't always have time, but when I do, I write. I tell stories. I share tidbits. I blog. I write novel(las) in 72 hours. It's a multi-prong attack, clarity.
Anyway, communication. Think about it.
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