Communication is actually a pretty amazing thing. It takes something – a thought, concept or understanding – from one mind, converts it into an appropriate transportation medium and then unpacks it so that something is present in another mind.
Or, at least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.
However, one of the problems with communication is that it’s never really about the words. Communication also relies on much more than words. It requires shared context and definitions of those words. It requires a compatible set of assumptions by the sender and the receiver, and it also requires being able to recreate the original intent of the sender in the receiver’s mind.
With all that going on, it’s actually quite amazing that people are able to do it at all.
However, the more of those pieces that are either missing or require work, the more likely you are to have a hiccup in that chain with pretty dire consequences.
History is quite a good teacher about the implications – wars, witch trials and the like – that can occur when all this goes wrong.
And it’s not just the big implications. It’s the small ones too.
Think of the last time there was a heated impasse between “the business” and “security”. If you work it through, there was a good chance it was caused by some kind of miscommunication.
After all, one of those big pieces of the puzzle required for effective communication is shared context. And we know how big the issues are in establishing a common understanding across THOSE two areas.
So the lesson here is that when you think you’re on the same page as someone else and “Thunderbirds are go.”
It might be wise to check.
This is one reason organizational-specific definitions for SABSA attributes are such a big deal. Different organizations use the same words to mean different things.
Yeah, I know. Who knew?
But the thing is that when we’re under pressure, or we’re tired or we hear we’re clear to do something we’re trying to do and we know is right, it’s pretty easy to get it wrong.
And wrong is not something you want to be in key relationships, business OR personal, when it comes to maintaining and growing credibility and trust.
So the question is this: as a security leader, what are the areas where you have the most communication issues between you, your team and the people they support?
And are you working actively – every day – to address those areas?
If you aren’t, then I can help. Because this is just one of thousands of things we can work on once you’re part of Archistry’s Security Leader coaching and mentoring program.
Here’s the link: https://archistry.com/go/SecurityLeader
Oh, and don’t start any wars in the meantime, ok?
ast
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Andrew S. Townley
Archistry Chief Executive
P.S. Since today’s the last day of February, if you want to confirm your spot in the program before the March 31st deadline, you’d better get busy. After the 31st, either we fill the program or the price goes up, and you’ll never again get this chance to solve some of these core problems for this level of investment.
