There is a scene in the movie The Internship where Vince Vaughn's character Billy is trying to explain an idea he has about an app called Exchange-O-Gram. As he provides information on what the app will do, the members of his group keep trying to tell him that his idea already exists in the form on Instagram, but he continues to provide further explanation because he is certain that his idea is different. His devoted friend Nick (Owen Wilson) jumps in to defend Billy's explanation of his thought process, but the group is having none of it because they are certain that what he is trying to explain already exists. The whole exchange is hilarious, but it is a cautionary tale of how poor communication can have a devastating impact on a team.
As a classroom teacher and school leader, I have encountered multiple situations throughout my career where the explanation of ideas or concepts get lost in translation. Sometimes the explanation didn't include relevant details to make things more understandable and other times, the concept was just too abstract. In all cases, however, the communication variable was the key component. You see, without clear communication, things can break down pretty quickly. I have made it a habit to tell my teams that we can argue vehemently behind closed doors, but when we emerge from the room, we will be a united front regardless of which way we go with a specific decision. I surround myself with competent individuals who know that it is okay to be a devil's advocate and look at issues from a variety of perspectives. These perspectives allow for looking at issues from a variety of angles and coming up with the best solutions. My teams are passionate and outspoken, but they are also keen on listening and discovering new ways of doing things. They understand that my success is incumbent on them being the best at what they do and vice versa. Our communication styles are very different from one another, but because of this, we can clarity by listening to one another and talking things out.
One thing to remember about communication is that it is a two way street. Most people immediately gravitate towards the speaking portion, but they fail to recognize the other side of the equation, which is listening. In order for communication to work, speaking and listening must be present and teams have to be open to both. We all have ideas and solutions to problems, but if we don't open ourselves to different perspectives on how to address issues, we are inherently shutting down the communication process because we see our point of view as the only option to move forward with. When this happens, we draw lines in the sand, choose sides, and teams begin to fall apart. We create a right/wrong paradigm where we are certain that the other side is wrong rather than pursuing a little perspective and gaining some understanding on why the other side is viewing things a certain way. We become closed off to listening and instead focus our efforts on proving the other side wrong.
There is no doubt that communication is a key ingredient to an organization's culture. The difference between a positive and negative culture lies with whether a team is embracing both the speaking and listening components of communication. When both exist, your organization exponentially increases its chance of having a positive culture because it means that people on the team are open to new perspectives. It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows and that disagreements are going to disappear. It does, however, mean that when there are disagreements, people are going to continue to engage in the communication process for the benefit of the team and the organization.
#Onward #FORGE
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