Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
Father Ollie and Father Sven were pastors of separate churches in a small northern town. Father Ollie led the Norwegian church while Father Sven led the Swedish church directly across the street. While there was always a friendly rivalry between the two churches, both pasters agreed it was time to work together to save souls. So, pooling their resources, they erected a large sign on the street that read “The end is near. Turn around while you can.”
Both pastors were standing by the sign, admiring its message, when a car came speeding down the street. The driver of the car rolled down his window and yelled at the two men of the cloth, “Why don’t you religious people mind your own business and leave us alone?”
The pastors looked at each other in alarm as the car then sped past them and rounded the corner. Moments later they heard a screech and a loud crash.
Father Ollie looked at Father Sven and said, “Do you suppose the sign should have just read ‘Bridge out ahead. Turn around’?”
While this story is amusing, it also highlights the importance of clear communication and the potential consequences if a message is misunderstood.
I’m sure you can make the connection as to how a lack of clear communication pertains to business—sometimes with disastrous results. Far more often, though, it’s the simple misconceptions that may actually prove to be more damaging.
When something is disastrous, it grabs your attention. It’s all hands on deck to fix whatever is wrong and get things back on track.
But an unclear communication that’s subtle may go unnoticed. Or it may be perceived as not important enough to ask for clarification. Over time, the results of a handful of simple misunderstandings or misdirection can pile up and result in something that’s far from simple.
In all fairness to the ill-fated driver of the car, he appears to have assumed that the sign contained a religious message since he saw men of the cloth admiring it. Perhaps you did the same as you were reading the lead-up to the punch line.
How often do we make the same mistake? When delivering a message or a directive, we assume the recipients understand the meaning. Or if we’re on the receiving end, we do the same, thinking “I know what they meant, there’s no reason to verify.”
The directive to repeat back what you thought you heard is an “oldie but goodie” for a reason. It’s solid advice for any circumstance, but especially when it comes to communication in business.
While I can laugh at the story above, I can also tell you that I’ve been the driver of that car on more than one occasion. I’ve prematurely jumped to conclusions about what the meaning of the message was simply because of my previous experiences or pre-conceptions of the person delivering it. And too often I’ve paid a price for that. What I wouldn’t give for a do-over button on some of my decisions—or at least a slower car!
