"Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success." -Paul J. Meyer
Communication has a strange way of getting in the way of a conversation. We can talk to each other all day long and never really understand each other.
The causes of our conversation malfunction are numerous. It could be a misinterpreted email. There are phone conversations with a bad connection. It could be a Tweet that uses an acronym in the wrong fashion. Or maybe its just a cultural difference.
Take for instance a conversation between myself and a British customer over dinner. The English language while very similar in different countries, it does have differences as well. And English is not generally accepted as the hardest to learn.
We talked of the route (British: root; American: rout) from the airport to the city centre (British: centre; American: center). And after a meal including fries (British: chips; American: fries), laughed about the after dinner drink, which was a Cockburns Port (British: coeburns; American: I didn't leave out the 'ck').
So a conversation that should have been simple required attentive listening. It required attentive inquiry between the two parties involved. It required being engaged in the personal connection of two people talking.
When all was done, there was a new appreciation for culture, each opinion and each other. We learned more and we grew more. For me, if we can walk away better for the experience; if we can each earn more from the interaction; our lives are raised to a new level.
So next time you go to Home Depot (British: deh poh; American: dee poh) and happen to have a conversation with someone, listen and improve your life. Make it a conversation that each of you can walk away from better for the experience.
