David Bardsley Communication: We all communicate with our spouses, friends and business associates every day. But what exactly is communication? The Merriam-Webster definition is: “the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else.” Note that the definition includes the word “exchange.” This means that the act of communicating is a two way street. We have to listen and understand, as well as speak, during the process of conveying ideas or thoughts.
This two way exchange is the most important part of the process. If I am talking and you aren’t listening, communication is not taking place. For example, I recently “listened” to my wife as she instructed me to pick up eggs, bacon, bread and aspirin from the store on my way home. I was also thinking about designing a horizontal well and listening to the news on the radio during the conversation. What happened when I arrived at home and unloaded the bags from the truck? No aspirin. Communication did not take place. My wife then stated, as Paul Newman in “Cool Hand Luke” said “What we’ve got here is (a) failure to communicate.”