Feedback
Several years ago, an incredibly wise-for-her-age-and-experience intern gave me some interesting feedback. She said, “You communicate a lot, but in reality you’re not communicating much at all.” She went on to point out that lots of stuff was flowing, but there was no sustained dialogue which would have led to meaningful understanding and relevant progress.
I thought about that for a long time. I’m obviously still thinking about it several years later.
She’s on to something very important.
Business leaders spend an enormously large amount of their time in meetings. Actually, everyone part of business bureaucracies spend an inordinate amount of their time in meetings. Lots of business information is shared. Sometimes, decisions are made in those meetings.
But then, all the participants split up and rush back to their already existing “to do list”, and the stuff that was learned and the information that was shared disappears almost instantly. The ones that delivered the “launch and leave” information smile because they checked the block that said, “communicate with your team”. The ones that received the information also smile because they checked the block that said, “let the boss communicate with you.” Both feel great, and neither feel any desperate desire to leverage what was communicated to accelerate any particular result.
As I learned from our intern, the secret to meaningful communications is sustained dialogue.
Whatever is discussed must be readdressed frequently enough to provide context, establish importance and ultimately create accountability.
I’m convinced that sustained dialogue is the difference between just yapping and actually communicating.
I’m also convinced that young people when asked for feedback can deliver incredible nuggets of wisdom that defy their youth!