13. Communication

This is the thirteenth article in the series based on the video from 1993 where Dr. Ackoff presented the best explanation I’ve ever heard for how we got to where we are today.?

However, this is the first article focused on going beyond Dr. Ackoff’s presentation. If you feel the need to comment about this article, I think it would be wise to have read the previous twelve articles covering Dr. Ackoff’s presentation.

The previous article covered how the definition of machine and work have changed since the Industrial Revolution. Here are the definitions from the Industrial Revolution:

Work: the application of energy to matter so as to change its properties.?

Examples: moving a chair changes its location and burning coal releases heat.

Machine: any object that can be used to apply energy to matter.?

Notice, a computer (and smartphone) doesn’t fit this definition of machine. A computer is a logical symbol manipulator. The work that is done with these “machines” is communication and observation.

Likewise, work today is mostly observation, communication, and logical symbol manipulation.?

The Industrial Revolution put humans in close proximity to machines that could withstand conditions lethal to humans. In 1934, (roughly 80 years after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution) the Bureau of Labor Standards of the Department of Labor began addressing these safety issues. On April 28, 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was born with the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This occurred roughly 120 years after the Industrial Revolution.?

It took between 80 and 120 years for the U.S. government to recognize the damage being done to workers and take action to protect the afflicted.

Today, our legal system has a firm handle on the safety issues resulting from work defined as the application of energy to matter so as to change its properties…work according to the Industrial Revolution.?

What about the definition of work as it exists today?

Have our laws kept up with the safety issues and damage being inflicted on workers due to toxic communication?

Is bullying taken as seriously as exposing workers to carcinogens?

What would it take to begin the process of protecting today’s workers?

The first step that would be required is guidelines for healthy communication!

Do we have these?

Are we even interested in having these?

Dr. Ackoff stated the Post-Industrial Revolution began about 100 years after the Industrial Revolution. We are about the same distance away from the beginning of the Post-Industrial Revolution as when the Bureau of Labor Standards of the Department of Labor began addressing safety issues from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

It turns out there are Healthy Communication Guidelines and they are derived from the only non contradictory model for the mind and brain. The following has been shared on LinkedIN for the past five years…

There are no "zero events" to your brain. Everything you think, say, and do is either making your brain healthier or unhealthier. Everyone has the conscious brain they deserve because they build their conscious brain by the words and sentences they think, say, and hear! This can be distilled down to three guidelines for healthy communication:

1. Make statements on yourself (I think..., I feel..., I believe..., It seems to me...)

2. Ask questions of others

3. Answer questions from others

Making statements about yourself is bragging: "I have the only non-contradictory model for the mind-brain." The opposite of these guidelines leads to unhealthy communication:

1. Make statements on others (You..., They..., She..., He...)

2. Don't ask questions of others

3. Don't answer other's questions of you

The other metric for healthy communication involves the "cause" of the communication. When we talk about a "cause", we are talking about how the communication began. At what level was the INITIATING communication? We have identified four levels.

Good

Open-ended question or statement of fact.

"How was your day?" and "My team lost."

Not Bad

Close-ended question or statement of your opinion.

"Did you have a good day?" and "My team should have won."

Bad?

Projection (telling someone what they think or feel) or judgment

"You didn't have a good day." and "You're stupid for not liking my team."

Worst

Negate another

"What is your favorite color?" (They answer "blue".)

"No it's not, it's pink!"

Notice, a Good and a Not Bad cause gives up control to the other person. A Bad cause exerts control. A Worst cause attempts to take complete control over another person. To the brain, Bad and Worst causes are ABUSE. When I teach this next part to men, their immediate response is, "I wish I knew this twenty years ago"!

In light of these guidelines, what are consultants teaching today?

What is LinkedIN, our government, and society endorsing today?

How will we look back on this once these guidelines are accepted?

Will we be repulsed by peoples’ posts, courses, and books when we realize these people were no different than business owners who got rich while shortening the lives of their workers?

What would it say about the INfluencers and LinkedIN staff who resisted these guidelines for the last five years?

The Industrial Revolution changed the nature and hazards of work. It took our government, as well as society’s best and brightest people, 80 to 120 years to recognize the damage being done. How could people be so stupid?

Seventy-five years ago, the nature and hazards of work changed again! Would your posts, comments, and interactions prove you recognize this?

There’s an even bigger implication relative to AI.?

Do you see it?

Link to Next Article: 14. AI

Link to Table of Contents: The Decline and Fall of the Machine Age