Are You a Victim of Vagueness Or a Champion of Clarity?
It is estimated that our brains receive information through our senses that result in some four billion neuron impulses per second. Of these four billion pieces of information, we are only consciously aware of about 2,000. That’s only 0.00005%.
It’s happening to you right now. I’m sure that you are not thinking about the feel of your clothes on your skin. You may not have noticed the noises in the background. Listen, what do you notice? You may not be aware of the object just on the inside of your peripheral vision. Until I mentioned them you were paying your full attention to something else. Hopefully, reading this blog!
If you had to be fully aware of all the information that you receive all of the time, you probably would be so overwhelmed that you wouldn’t be able to function. The filtering of information is done automatically based on lots of factors. One of which is our focus at that time. However, many other factors affect what we notice and how we process information.
It’s clearly helpful as it saves our brains from exploding. Although, it can lead to us making unhelpful assumptions about situations, that might not serve us well. We can easily become victims of the vagueness that we accept as fact, by taking meaning from information that was never there.
The Compound Effect
To make matters worse, when we communicate information, we pass on our assumptions with the additional assumption that the recipient will think in a similar way. We might also create gaps in the information that we expect the other person to fill with the same understanding.
All too often, because of our assumptions we make and the gaps in information, the message gets lost and distorted.
You hear this all around you, all of the time. In the workplace and in our personal lives.
You might pass on some information, and by the time it’s been passed through several people, the message is distorted.
Do you notice this?
Some Examples of Vague Statements
Here are some examples of vague statements. There are several assumptions that you could make when you read them. What assumptions are you making to fill in the incomplete information?
“Go and increase morale in the team.”
“Make sure that they fully appreciate our efforts!”
“Spend more time on customer relations.”
Being a Champion of Clarity
To be a Champion of Clarity, you must recognise that communication is full of assumptions. A Champion of Clarity recognises the pitfalls of assumption both as a speaker and as a listener.
As a listener, they are only too aware of the following phrase:
“The meaning of your communication is the response that you get…”
As such, a Champion of Clarity takes responsibility for ensuring that their communication is fully understood.
As a listener they recognise that they often interact with Victims of Vagueness, and they take steps to avoid relegation from a Champion of Clarity by ensuring that they fully understand the intention of the communication behind the words that they hear.
How to Respond as a Champion of Clarity
In response to the vague statements above, a Champion of Clarity would ask something like:
“When I have increased morale in the team, how will you know that it has been done well?”
“What will let them know that we put in effort in a way that should be recognised?”
“When we are spending more time on customer relations, what would you like to see as an outcome?”
Summary
It’s very easy for communication to be misinterpreted. If you are receiving information, it’s useful to ask yourself whether you really understand what is being asked. If you are passing on information to others, then check that you are providing enough clarity and that the other person understands what it is you need them to know.
If you would like some support with communication, then have you considered working with a coach? I support clients to improve their communication through coaching and my other programmes. If you would like to see if I can help you, then book a call here.