What is this about a husband in Kenya?
The college president for whom I was working at the time stared at me across the table during our weekly one-on-one. She looked troubled.
I set my coffee mug down. A what?
In yesterday’s strategic planning meeting, I heard you mention a husband in Kenya. There must be some explanation. Does Rod know?
The president’s office door was slightly ajar and I was suddenly aware of an unusually quiet outer office, normally bustling with a couple of executive assistants and a few work-study students. In my mind’s eye, I could already see the campus rumor mill grinding into gear. And I could see the newspaper headline: Protestant Dean at Catholic College Admits to Two Husbands. Pope NOT Happy.
Kenya? I asked, What are you talking about? I don’t have a husband in Kenya!
Well, I hoped I’d mis-heard. I thought you said, and I quote, ‘my husband in Kenya.’
I tried not to let my laughter cause me to snort my morning coffee. Rod, my one and only husband, is a political science professor and was up for tenure at another college. Tenure, I said, enunciating carefully. Not Kenya. Tenure. I must have said, ‘my husband and tenure.’
If it’s this hard when talking to someone in person, and not even in a conflict situation, it’s no wonder communication at work gets complicated.
If you ever need some help un-complicating it, give me a call. I’ll be sure to enunciate.
Copyright © 2007 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.
Cute post! Short and sweet, but gets the point across that we all need to remember that miscommunications happen all the time; poor enunciation, hearing problems, a lack of listening skills, distractions in the environment – these can all contribute to misunderstandings.
This reminds me of an activity my 11th grade history teacher (Mr. Steve Conklin) had us do after our written final. We all arranged our desks in a big circle, starting and ending at his desk. He had a simple phrase that he leaned over and whispered to the student on his right side, who in turn whispered it to the next, and so on. (We might have added ‘pass it on’ at the end!) At the end, he would say out loud the message whispered by the kid on his left.
I have to say, I thought it was pretty dumb. Until I heard the starting and ending phrase! Everyone was amazed at the result, and wondered how it changed so much, so we all repeated the phrase we said to see where the changes had occured. Everybody was talking and laughing about this process, but it really illustrated some great lessons in an unforgettable way!
I imagine it could also be adapted to the work environment as well.
Anyway, thanks for the blog, and giving me a laugh this morning!
Loraine, your Mr Conklin used a great exercise to make the point about how information changes with each delivery. I remember that exercise from school too. I wonder how many of us experienced it? I know others have mentioned it to me over the years.
Thanks for taking the time to write and share it with readers here!
Great reminder on how easy it is for things to be misinterpreted! Hope all is well with you
All is great with me, Jill, and thanks for taking the time to comment. Your blog is looking so terrific, by the way.
Pope NOT happy! I love it.
I wonder how much juice was spent on the spinning wheels.
Hey there, Troy, it’s great to hear from you. I’m glad I made you smile. And you made me smile, with the spinning wheels comment!