Communication as a Social Construction

Communication is very important in the change cycle, but it often takes on generic processes that fail to deliver the message with the problem compounded through a lack of engagement that does not build a desire to support the change.

As technology overpowers natural communication channels and weakens our skills, it is no wonder that engagement has not become any easier with stakeholders. The tribal communication methods of dialogue and conversation have been misplaced and in some regards lost. History and record were once only defined through stories passed down from generation to generation. It was this skill to create dialogue that forms the foundations of our communities because we not only converse, but most important of all, we listen and we understand.

Once again a simple process has been taken and manipulated creating communication models that in themselves are difficult to communicate, less understand. Fortunately, pioneers like Ken and Mary Gergen of the Taos Institute are making communication easier through social construction. Social construction is a way of looking at how people build a common understanding and negotiate their way into the future.

So keep communication simple and focus on the five core principles:

1. The ways we come to understand the world and ourselves are created in relationships.

2. We do not all interpret the world in the same way.

3. Our shared interpretations of the world survive only if they are useful to us as individuals.

4. Our understandings influence the ways we behave and possibilities for our future.

5. reflection on our assumptions - what we take for granted - is vital to improving performance.

I a nutshell we just need to talk to each other and listen to each other much more than we do now.

http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/