What we have here is a failure to communicate!

That famous movie line in itself, is kind of.... incorrect. What it SHOULD say is " What we have here is a failure to communicate EFFECTIVELY." After all, we are in a consistent mode of communicating with everyone and everything but HOW we do it is what leads to communication success or communication break down.

..and everyone knows what happen when the communication between persons breaks down... shit hits the fan.. feelings get hurt... people get frustrated.. no one feels like their words are heard or their point is proven... Nothing solved and the only thing gained is a migraine headache that rivals the one your  (insert common noun here) seems to give you.

Someone has to be the communication commando. It just takes one person to reel it back in and try to steer the train wreck back on track. Everything successful has a hierarchy. Leaders and followers..From the animal world to the corporate world to even the prison populations where Big John runs the yard and  Sweet Baby D protects the incoming perps.. It all works when every one knows their place. Now don't go screaming this is a post about relegating to the Dark Age, but order and hierarchy make sense to me in a whole slew of realms. Think about it. The functioning world is based on it. ( going off on a mega tangent!)

 Having stated that, let me get back to my main thought!

The participants have to be willing for that to operate effectively.  Willingness is an integral part of communication success.  If unwillingness is what prevails, the communication ceases, nothing is gained and that exact thing you were disagreeing about or discussing will be the exact thing you "talk" about next Tuesday, weekend, or whenever.

Set forth the notion that your are communicating to solve something and put that on the table and don't forget them. Write a list, compose a thought cloud, impose a time limit, whatever. It's what works.





Truth Be Told: Communication is much harder when you are in the midst of an upset. A clear mind comes sometimes when it's too late or regret has set in. 


Soooooo.


Effective.
Purposeful.
Concise.


I'll let you know when I master it. But hey, I'm, WILLING.