In his book "Holidays in Hell", PJ O`Rourke describes a scene in which he was confronted by a wall of televisions, each flashing a different scene. This prompted him to comment that it does not matter how elaborate a communication system is if there is nothing to communicate.
Communication is something that every single human being does regularly in a variety of ways. Theorists have divided communication into two types: verbal (what we say) and nonverbal (body language, emotions, what is unsaid). Communication theory posits that, when broken down into its component parts, all communication consists of a sender, a message and a receiver.
In certain instances modern communication methods may be proving to be a hindrance rather than a help.
Jill Hamlyn, MD, The People Business.
Peter Hartley, author of Interpersonal Communication, adds feedback to this model. The process of communication does not involve a static message passing from one person to another without some sort of reply, feedback and possible change to the original message.
Due to the fact that we do not communicate in a vacuum, there is plenty of room for the obscuring of what it is we are trying to communicate. Added to the pure elements of interaction between people are intervening factors such as the telephone, fax machine, e-mail, SMS and letter. In SA, there are the further variables of a variety of cultures and 11 official languages that have to be taken into consideration within a communicative context.
Methods of communication certainly may have improved but this does not necessarily mean that we are any better at putting our point across. In fact, in certain instances modern communication methods may be proving to be a hindrance rather than a help.
This, of course, does not refer to those times when the telephone, fax, SMS and e-mail are literally lifesavers. However, in the normal course of communication, distortions occur when communication urgency takes over. We all know what these distortions are - lack of thought, too much emotion, not listening, an inability to understand the person we are communicating with or the message that is being communicated. These factors, combined with the speed with which communication now takes place, have the potential to set us up for disaster.
Revolutionary evolution
It has been a scramble to keep up with the evolution of technology as this (r)evolution has occurred, to put it mildly, rapidly. We have had little time to improve on the communication strategies that we have or to develop new ones to complement the new, slick methods of communication that technology has brought with it. In the past, for instance, it was possible to tear up a letter for whatever reason, or even intercept the post in order to do so. Today, with e-mail the preferred form of communication between many people, this is no longer an option. It is impossible to "unsend" a letter sent via e-mail. The click of the mouse is too quick and the e-mail is virtually irrevocable.
Communication is, and always has been, the fundamental of human interaction and miscommunication can be rectified. Bad communication is a habit and, like all habits, it can be changed with some effort. One of the starting points to this change is to think before you communicate, to say what you mean and mean what you say, always keeping the possible consequences in mind. As far as possible, keep emotion to a minimum and always remember to check your facts.
Besides communication in itself and tools and methods of communication, the process can be located within three distinct but interlinked spheres, namely the people sphere, the time sphere and the creative sphere.
The people sphere is virtually self-explanatory and comprises the interaction between humans. At its simplest level, this interaction occurs without the use of some or other interface. Complexity is added when the message is taken into account and analysed for content and intent.
The time sphere takes time frames into account and includes various realities as well as historical and socio-political contexts. The content of much communication is heavily dependent on the time sphere and this sphere also governs the methods used for communication.
At a deeper level is the creative sphere of communication. All communication is creative in that it creates a context, creates a message to be put across and in communicating we create ourselves and our realities. Creativity in this sphere also refers to being able to abandon preconceptions and prejudices in order to think out of the box, as well as listening and really hearing what someone is trying to put across. Communication at this level is a robust process of co-creation and by harnessing the creativity within creativity, great leaps forward in understanding are possible.
It has to be said that communication is not a simple process and any attempts to break it down and make it so are reductionist at best.
What is largely left unmentioned in most attempts to explain, describe or discuss communication is the aspect of power. Communication has at its root people and the ideas that people generate through the communicative process. For all its pitfalls, instantaneous communication allows people to band together with a concomitant banding together of knowledge. Instant communication, instant banding, instant knowledge, instant power. It then becomes interesting to think about who benefits from a process of disinformation and purposely distorting communication.
The subject of communication is not one that may be written about blithely and this is most unlikely to be the last word on so vast a topic. The various aspects of communication do bear thinking about, however, in an effort to increase both its potential and our potential within the process. Communication is the root of all things and to go back to this root focuses us into the context of ourselves, our business and our current existence.
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