“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
– Peter F. Drucker
Hi Everyone,
Last week I wrote about the importance of authenticity in communication. Without trust in the facts, the exchange of information and collaboration within the team is going to be insufficient and left wanting. You will be frustrated, and our clients will have a subpar experience. I want us to go faster and be more efficient in our work and client relationships. Over the past few months, we’ve been moving quickly, and there have been heroic efforts across the company. I appreciate the way that everyone has been stepping up and working on complicated problems. However, we can do better, especially if we all focus on quality communication and collaboration.
When I discussed the concept of what you guarantee in your communications or representation of situations, it did not address deception or the misrepresentation of the truth. All speech is motivated. Everyone brings an intention to a conversation or collaboration, whether it be for order, perfection, compassion, control, advocacy, power, anxiety, protection, laziness, fear of success, seduction, concern, greed, and I could go on and on. You simply must put yourself in the other person’s point of view and ask yourself how they are motivated in this situation.
I believe that all the folks who work at Tahzoo are earnest, well-intentioned, and have a good work ethic. However, unconscious bias, commitment to the status quo, and resistance to change can sometimes lead people to be disingenuous in their communication. Humans are good at free associations, they create, focus on and tell stories that serve and preserve their self-interest. This promotes ignorance, error, bias, wishful thinking, suggestion, deceit, and/or functionalism – all of which happen when you conflate ideas and decisions made previously to support a narrative.
The allegiance to self, “what’s best for me must be what’s best,” is a reoccurring theme in our society. The personal dissonance caused by technology and the ongoing propaganda of self-absorption is eroding the Western tradition. I’ll call it the Calvinist work ethic. The current discourse in our society is a natural byproduct of selfishness being imprinted on our culture.
I share this observation not from a place of criticism, only to call out that there are patterns of communication and collaboration that we must be mindful of. It seems that we struggle with the division of labor within teams and the ability to actively explore options and agree on a plan forward. I have a lingering sense that not being able to fully resolve differences and mutually commit to resolution at times infects our company culture.
How can we unwittingly wire selfishness into our culture with our communication patterns? There are three basic ways. The undermining of the truth, undermining virtue, and undermining the commons.
Undermining Truth
- Inability to agree on the facts
- Reliance on qualitative views
- Not applying the scientific method decisions
Undermining Virtue
- Not valuing the contribution of others
- Talking about one another instead of talking to each other
- Not committing to the team’s decisions
Undermining the Commons
- Having awareness and failing to act
- Not jumping in to help your teammates regardless of if “it’s your job” or not
- Not holding yourself accountable to complete your work in a timely and quality manner
If you notice any of these things happening in your meetings or within a project, talk about it. Everyone is responsible for the success of our client engagements and relationships. If you see something that is a problem that could result in bad customer service or a low-quality product, then you are obligated to engage your teammates in truthful communication and collaboration until the issue is resolved. A focused effort from everyone in the company on communication and collaboration is like going to the gym, it will be difficult at first, but the payoff over time will be amazing.
Let’s go be great!
Brad