Better Communication means “Telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”!
We understand the challenges of effective communication. Any number of approaches, models, and principles have evolved to help us communicate better. There are always two parties to a communication – the source, and the receiver. And of course, it takes both sides to ensure effectiveness of the communication. I write this piece to help the communicators (the source) become more effective.
Anyone who has seen any court scene in a movie knows the oath that a witness has to take before giving testimony. The crucial section reads, “I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”. I thought I would use the wisdom of this sentence to improve effectiveness from the communicator’s (the source’s) perspective. There are three parts to the oath. Let’s break it down within the context of a corporate setting.
1.????I Promise to tell the truth – I interpret this to say that if you are the communicator (the source), you must communicate only what you know to be accurate, and factual.
2.????The whole truth – don’t leave pieces of information out. Ensure everything that the listener needs, to do his/her work effectively, has been communicated.
3.????And nothing but the truth – the literal translation of course means “don’t lie”, which is very relevant in a court of law. In a corporate setting however, this is hardly applicable. The way to interpret it is, whilst one communicates what one knows to be accurate and factual, it is perfectly ok to have opinions, ideas, and perspectives. In fact, it is expected that you have them. The only caveat is please call it out. If you have an opinion, air it, but ensure people understand it is an opinion that is not necessarily based on facts and figures.
I believe that by practicing these three tenets, the effectiveness of communication will increase tremendously. Obviously, this does not obviate or trivialise the role of the listener.?
So, remember, in future meetings and one-on-ones, do “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”.
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Let me know if these thoughts resonate with you.
The great Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda has said: "Bring truth out! If it is real, it will do good." He said this in a speech in San Francisco in 1900, according to https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_8/Lectures_And_Discourses/Buddha%27s_Message_To_The_World. The message is always relevant and applicable!
Rightly said Bhaskaran and you emulated it. Truthful communication is uncomplicated when both the sender and receiver have the same mind set. Many times people like anything but the whole truth and then the initiator / sender becomes the problem.
Project Office Leader, Ultrasound at Philips
1 年Something you definitely trained us well on! Well, for the struggles, there have been plenty especially up the ladder??. However still a great sense of satisfaction in continuing to follow these tenets and be grounded ??
Definitely, truth brings credibility! However, it's the 'whole' truth that I struggle with - it gets verbose and tiresome. I'm a coder, so when a client asks 'can you make a dashboard to show my company finances?' The truth is 'yes'. The whole truth includes layouts, exceptions, customisations, availability, cost... Eventually becoming legal-speak or just 'code' How do we bring out the whole truth, while keeping the essence front-and-center?
Take selective assignments.Ex- Chief Human Resources Officer -Seasoned HR Professional with more than 38 years of Global, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Sectorial Leadership Experience.
1 年Brilliantly dissected and contextualised for corporate world. Makes sense and I guess there is no disagreement on what is said. The challenge is how one executes it in real life- work or personal.