Reflect on Chapters 4-6 of Messages and create a blog posting that
identifies how you might use the information in these readings to improve your
ability to communicate with sincerity and congruence. Think about instances
where you have been exposed to incongruent messages and how you felt at those
times.
In your blog, use specific situations that you recall and describe
changes that you would make using the technical jargon of the chapters. The
goal is for you to become a more powerful communicator by understanding these
common problems and deploying strategies to overcome them.
The worst case of incongruence of message would be the
second to last director we had at Skin & Spar before I left. In front of a
large group or when addressing a team, he would talk about how he wanted to
learn from us – he had been brought in from outside Boeing – learn about our
processes and production flow…why we did what we did the way we did it. Smart.
But two weeks after he started, he implemented an asinine directive to take all
of the electronic, real-time data down and start going back to white boards and
dry-erase markers. I’m all for going back to basics, don’t get me wrong, but
don’t say that you’re going to try to learn our system before you make any
changes and then completely do everything you said you wouldn’t. This director
also ignored any information we gave him, never asked for capacity plans or
other specific charts/data one would use when trying to learn a production system.
He just assumed that it was all wrong. I firmly believe that he had no
intention of ever “learning” the current production system before implementing
his changes. I don’t know if he had direction from his bosses or was just an
ass, but I can tell you that it was detrimental to the behind schedule numbers,
the on-time delivery, and most of all, the morale of the operators. He could
have implemented his agenda in a much smoother way if he had just at least
trusted that we knew our jobs before completely disregarding everything we had
gained for his own glory. “It’s hard to defend against the anger and disapproval
expressed in negative metamessages. The attack is often so subtle that you aren’t
aware of exactly how you’ve been hurt.” (McKay, et al., 2009)
If I had been in his situation, I would have definitely
taken at least 90 days to tour the teams in the shop and in the office areas,
introduce myself to them personally, built that rapport and trust and then ask
for the help of these teams in implementing a directive. That would have made
the crazy (and resource draining) changes something that we ALL had to endure…as
a team…together. I think he could have really shown integrity and leadership by
being an advocate instead of an adversary.
References:
McKay, M., Davis, M., Fanning, P. (2009). Messages: The
Communication Skills Book. Oakland, CA. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
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