A successful message retains the oomph of intent. For this to happen communication must travel an obstacle course to reach each person. Some of the bulwarks against communication’s smooth path to understanding include: values, bias, mood, culture, agenda, and emotion. These force communication through filters that affect both the intent and the impact of the message communicated.
Each layer adds a filter to sift, interpret, and frame communication that leans more towards confusion than clarity, and confusion is the biggest enemy to change. Communication has a rough road to travel to successfully reach your target.
One filter we all may have experience with is the rational/emotional dialogue where we find at the individual level the rational dialogue is many times trumped by the emotional dialogue:
- Waking up at 5 am to go to the gym is the rational payoff to get in shape
- Sleeping in late is the emotional payoff to stay within a comfortable bed
The battle between the rational and the emotional is constant. This rational/emotional filter where one consistently overrides the other is how habits form. If we want change to succeed we need new habits to form.
To understand the potential filters involved an organization change effort needs to understand 2 items:
- The conversations by which people interact and
- The structures that shape these interactions
These conversations happen at their view, not your view, their frame, not your frame. These provide a view of the organization’s filter, or culture. Rule 1 in communication: know your audience.
The more the communicator ignores how filters affect communication, the more the communicator discredits the importance of people.
So, as you view the world through your filter, keep in mind the world views your message through their filter.
No doubt I got some things wrong, or left out some important ideas. Please let me know what you think and suggestions you have for me to add value.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“If we want change to succeed we need new habits to form.” I agree with these. I heard this from a lot of people. They murmur about how to change because they really want to change. I guess it’s in the mind.
Twitter: TobyElwin
April 8, 2011 at 10:15 AM
For an action to turn into a habit there is a whole host of barriers. It is the reason I find thinking of change as a lifecycle more than an event. Looking at your site, seems you see in sports and training that same blowback to reliable, dedicated training; some days it is a step forward some 2 steps back.I guess my point of the blog post and many of my blogs is something you seem to realize, change is hard, very hard. So I try to make the case to not expect immediate results without commitment.There is no linear route to achieve change, just as there is no linear route to training and exercise, however both change and training require commitment for results. Charting change can look more like charting the flight path of a butterfly.Thank you for the comment and the opportunity you gave to discover your site.