How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things but by how well we are understood.
Andrew Grove, CEO Intel
Think of the last dinner you had in a restaurant where most couples were using smart phones to keep current, contact friends, and text their date 2 feet away. It’s worse when digital natives communicate and text almost exclusively through smart phones.
The mega problem: Good communications are a vital element to all work problem solving and career decision making. Communications problems can impact senior executives to low-level workers. You may remember as little as 25% of what you heard in the last two days. Poor listening results in the wrong coffee order, poor quality instructions, and even incorrect medical procedures. Can you imagine scheduled for an appendix removal and lose your lung instead? That would make for a bad appendix day. Strange things happen and result in massive medical liability awards because of poor communications!
For example take GE, which is in tough shape. Poor risk based, decision making. Poor risk based, problem solving. So, they are in disruptee mode. The CEO needs to be consistent and transparent in all communications. He recently said the turnaround will take years and “I don’t want to sugar coat that in any way, shape or form. There’s a lot of work. It’s a game of inches.”[i] Simply said. Pretty clear. Gotta get’er done.
Poor communications is a huge problem with VUCANs and digital natives. Big problem at work and in life. If your personal vision, mission, values, culture, goals, plans, policies, and procedures are not uniformly understood, then they won’t be followed. It all comes down to understandable communications. It’s that simple. Poor decisions are made. Processes won’t work. Projects aren’t completed. Deficient products are produced. And, ultimately unhappy customers won’t purchase products or services. Good communications starts with good listening. The problem is VUCANs are texting and listening less. No wonder communication, or the lack of it, hampers our work effectiveness and even relationship happiness.
Work Lesson Earned: So, what separates leaders from managers, great creatives from so-so workers, million dollar-a-year professionals from commodity consultants? Killer listening and great communications.
[i] ‘GE Chief Warns of Slow Recovery’, Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2019.