Details

After an evening conversation with my wife about a webinar she is attending this week, the next morning I began observing my process of getting ready for the day. The focus of the webinar is regarding communication, and the detail to which we actually communicate. Here are three levels of communication that I came up with that illustrates why there is so much MIS-communication in the world.

Conversation I

Person A: What did you do this morning?

Person B: I got dressed and went to work.


Conversation II

Person A: What did you do this morning?

Person B: I got out of bed, took a shower, fixed my hair, brushed my teeth, dressed, and drove my car to the office.


Conversation III

Person A: What did you do this morning?

Person B: The alarm went off at 6:30 am CDT. I got out of bed, went to the bathroom where I showered. I used Dove soap, Suave Strawberry shampoo, and dried off with a white terrycloth towel. I put Bed Head Max Hold gel in my hair, brushed my teeth with Crest Whitening toothpaste and Oral B toothbrush, rinsed by mouth with water, and dried my face with a white terrycloth hand towel. I dried the water in my ears with a Q-Tip swab.

I then proceeded to my closet where I dressed (I'll skip a few details), when downstairs, gathered my necessary items for work, got in the car, cranked it, and drove down Chisholm Road, Cox Creek Parkway, Florence Blvd., and arrived at the office.


In all three of these examples Person A could truthfully say, "I talked to Person B about their morning." Depending on the need for information, Conversation I might be totally sufficient. However, if Person A was asked to recreate the morning routine of Person B, Conversation III would certainly be more beneficial.

What is the point of all of this? It illustrates how misleading communication can be when it is not qualified. Never stop short of fully understanding someone before saying, "I see." If it's important, the details matter.