The death of the author is the birth of the reader

Communication by definition is not set in stone…

The phrase "the death of the author is the birth of the reader" is a paraphrase of ideas from French literary theorist Roland Barthes. In his 1967 essay “The Death of the Author,” Barthes argues that the identity and intentions of the author should not influence the interpretation of a text. Instead, the meaning of a text is created by the reader's interaction with it. By shifting focus from the author to the reader, Barthes emphasizes that readers play a crucial role in generating meaning from a text.

Harry Potter isn’t perfect.

I was struck the other day with the breadth of opinion following the launch of the latest Harry Potter novel The Half-Blood Prince and whilst trawling the depths of cyber space you can find hundreds of reviews posted online – they range from the very disappointed through to ecstatic with all stops between, there are even some sites I came across condemning Harry Potter as Satanist and the author a heretic – did JK Rowling intend that? I bet she thought she was writing a children’s’ book.

Communication is unpredictable, and inherently unstable and this is what makes it so interesting and such fun. There is the author’s intent and the recipient’s interpretation. Aligning these two positions is always a challenge because different customers bring different readings to our communication. The significance and relevance of The Half Blood Prince to my 80-year-old grandfather is completely different to the interpretation and significance to his 12-year-old granddaughter.? Personas matter. Each customer brings to bear their unique values and experiences and therefore construct their own interpretation and reaction.

It is the same in business. We can control what we say, but we cannot directly control what customers hear – in other words as much as we would like to create communication to please all the people all the time - we can’t. We need to embrace this unpredictability and not be fearful of it. Communicating something is much more rewarding than communicating nothing, and often positively surprising. I am reminded of the classic Levi advert that featured Paul Cayman taking off his jeans, revealing his boxer shorts in the Launderette. The sales of Levis went up; this was the aim of the advert; but the sales of boxer shorts went off the scale. Levi could never have predicted that. Recently we were asked to reposition a company in the foodservice sector. Before winning the business the major shareholder of the business repeatedly asked us to guarantee the outcome in quantifiable terms e.g. sales increased by x amount, leads identified, profitability enhanced. In the negotiation he kept coming back for specific reassurances that we could not give. We reassured him that if he undertook the work in good faith the outcome would be positive, we just couldn’t predict when and how much. After some deliberation he found his courage and he took the leap of faith, we were commissioned to undertake the positioning programme. Two months into the work we received an excited phone call – …”amazing news, we’ve had an offer for the business, we’ve been trying to sell for two years and this is exactly what we wanted…” “Aha,” we replied, “there you are that is the positive outcome you desired…” This client was last seen sailing (literally) into the sunset on a Swan 57 yacht. A very happy client indeed.

Making communications is not as easy as making a physical product, a table for example. When making a table, you know where you are; a table is easily judged i.e. when making a table the objectives are clear and the outcome predictable: drinks should be able to stand on it without spilling a drop.? Failure or success is easily measured.

In communication terms there is always going to be some spillage. Communication just isn’t black and white it is many shades of grey. We’ve just got to accept it.

In business there is sometimes a misguided belief that we can create the perfect piece of communication that communicates exactly what we are trying to say or do and creates predictable returns. In this search for the Holy Grail we can easily become paralyzed, trying to communicate everything to everybody with the consequence we communicate nothing to nobody. When communicating it is important to allow the viewer or the reader the space to fill in their interpretation, their relevance, their part of the story. It is the gaps between the words that are as important as the words themselves.

If JK Rowling had attempted to write a book that pleased everybody, the intangible equivalent of the perfectly flat tabletop with the comfortably confident outcomes of the material world, we would still be waiting for her first book.

This is where B2B loses its way. Too often in business we forget to embrace the perishable nature of communication and its link to immediacy and relevance – spending months labouring to achieve perfection which seems to slip further and further from the grasp as the piece becomes a shadow of the intended concept – a beast definitely worthy of Azkaban, soulless and empty.

Healthy communication is transient, it is a continuous journey, and should move on and maintain pace with events. We should expect to continually revisit the story and keep it fresh. Every story needs updating. In this way communication is organic rather than static.?

Now here’s a thought, how often do you embrace a new story for your company? Do you gladly let go of the old message to embrace the new? Or do we hold onto the past for too long? – If you don’t refresh the communication, it is likely the message will become stale, and stuck in the past. Our communication must grow and develop with us, and our times.

It is worth remembering that without communication there can be no sales – so why wait? Communicating something is much better than communicating nothing. Let go and embrace the unpredictability.

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