Ever hear someone say “perception is reality”? Everything we say and do, see and hear, and experience and feel is affected by our own perceptions and interpretations. Facts, context, and emotions make up those perceptions and affect how we send, receive and process information. On an average day we probably do more things with others than alone, but in both circumstances all of our various kinds of communications – verbal, written, and non-verbal - need to be clear and succinct. No argument there, right? So, why then are communications where most people work so unclear or lacking, and why do most of the employee surveys I administer rate communications as the #1 problem that needs to be improved? The solution is for everyone to learn how to communicate more effectively: listen to what’s being said, watch how it’s being said, and ask for more information or clarity if you’re unclear about its meaning and intent. That’s how to make sure that a thousand different people don’t have a thousand different perceptions or interpretations of the same thing today.
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (1932 – 1986): Russian filmmaker, writer, and film theorist
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