When I was a teacher at a small business college in Nebraska, one of my favorite exercises I did with my public speaking class was to play “The Telephone Game.” I would begin by having my class sit in a circle, then I would whisper a message into someone’s ear. In turn, that person would whisper the message in to the next person’s ear, and so on. On almost every occasion, the message that came back to me as the circle was completed was not the one I initiated at the beginning of the game. In fact, very often I would hear the 3rd of 4th person’s version of the message, and it was very close to my version but not quite the same. As the message progressed around the circle, the message got a little more distorted each time.
The result of this game had several good teaching points, but the main idea is this: when we don’t communicate effectively with others it can cause misunderstanding. Sometimes the net result of that misunderstanding is nominal, but sometimes it can be significant:
Imagine a quarterback in a football game misunderstanding the coaches signal, and therefore calling the wrong play at a critical point in the game.
Imagine hearing from a team member that a meeting time has changed, but that person was wrong, causing you to miss the meeting.
Imagine hearing a bad rumor about someone and believing it, only to find out it had not been true at all.
These are all situations that can happen when we don’t communicate effectively with others. In the Telephone Game, the participants had to hear their neighbor’s version of the message, but did not get to hear the original message. By the time the message got halfway around the circle, that person had no real opportunity to hear the right version of the message.
So what are the implications? In order to be effective communicators with others, make sure everyone hears the original version of the message. If that involves setting up a meeting time, have a system in place where you are personally responsible for letting everyone else in the group know, or at least having 2-3 trusted people help you share the message.
Also, if you hear a message from someone where “so and so said….”, and it doesn’t sound quite right to you, be sure to check from the direct source whenever possible. The person delivering the message, while well-intentioned, could be wrong.
An excellent leader takes every step to make sure all members of the group are on the same page and share the same vision. That can only be possible when communication is accurate and complete.
Brian K Wright is the host of Success Profiles Radio airing each Monday at 6pm Eastern on the Rockstar Radio Network. The show is consistently ranked on the “What’s Hot on iTunes Top 120 List” in Careers and Self Help. To learn more about the show, or to listen to podcasts of previous episodes, go to www.successprofilesradio.com
