We are demanding quantum leaps in performance, accountability and behavior change. Yet almost none of our communication is designed to achieve these goals. How we communicate is, at best, creating confusion offering mixed messages with lots of unnecessary frustration and angst. If measured by the bottom line, our current approaches to communication are creating operating inefficiencies, decreased productivity and negative economic impact.
Most people believe they have the skills to communicate and can do it anytime, anywhere.
Or perhaps it's because human communication has always been, and always will be, wondrously complex. Either way, almost all participants in all companies believed communication was a universal challenge. Even those that cited best practices conceded their successes were extremely difficult to replicate, transfer to others, or sustain. Communication issues fell within scores of areas, all inter-connected as sources of complexity. It took 2-4 days, several phone calls and much frustration to get an answer that doesn't work.