perpustakaan virtualnya agus al muhajir

Oleh: Abdul Aziz Hussein Sazally

Abstrak

Artikel pendek ini bertujuan memberi pandangan mengenai sebahagian sifat dan pemikiran yang harus dijelmakan dalam indivdu bagi mewujudkan satu organisasi yang cemerlang. Pandangan ini tidak sekali-kali menidakkan peranan dan pentingnya komponen-komponen lain seperti teknologi, proses, sumber material, pengurusan dan sebagainya. Tumpuan kepada individu diberikan kerana manusia adalah di ‘engah-tengah’ segalanya. Organisasi dianggap sebagai satu entiti sosial atas dasar ini dan sumber- sumber lain tiada makna tanpa sentuhan manusia.

Dalam mengharungi cabaran-cabaran semasa, organisasi perlu meningkatkan keupayaannya supaya ia mempunyai daya untuk bersaing dan dalam banyak konteks, ini bermakna kapasiti untuk ‘ berubah ‘ .Organisasi yang boleh berubah adalah organisasi yang menggabungkan pembelajaran dalam tempat kerjanya. Keupayaan ini berupa kualiti adaptif terpenting dan aspek fundamental dalam pembelajaran pula ialah kebolehan individu untuk melihat melalui mode mental yang baru ke arah satu anjakan paradigma.

Bagi terus mengekalkan kecemerlangan, individu memerlukan keupayaan yang berkesan dalam pelbagai konteks.

Pemikiran Sistem (Systems Thinking)

‘Systems thinking’ dapat membantu individu memahami kompleksiti organisasi yang timbulnya daripada proses, pasukan kerja, peralatan, pelanggan, persekitaran kerja dan sebagainya. la memberi gambaran menyeluruh (the big picture) mengenai organisasi sebagai satu entiti kompleks yang mengandungi pelbagai bahagian dan bagaimana bahagian-bahagian ini bergabung menjadi satu dan seterusnya bagaimana pula gabungan ini menjadi satu bahagian daripada satu lagi sistem yang lebih besar dan seterusnya. Berbeza dengan pendekatan ‘reductionist’ yang mengasingkan bahagian-bahagian yang dikaji untuk analisis, pemikiran sistem menumpukan kepada interaksi antara bahagian dalam sistem yang mencorakkan bentuk perilaku. Ini bermakna bahawa dalam pendekatan ini, analisis akan mengembang untuk mengambilkira bilangan interaksi besar dan yang semakin membesar. Penemuan yang diperolehi kadangkala adalah sangat berbeza terutamanya dalam sistem yang kompleks dan dinamik berbeza dengan analisis secara konvensional. Banyak masalah yang dihadapi sekarang adalah berbentuk kompleks, melibatkan ramai pihak dan sedikit sebanyak disumbang oleh tindakan-tindakan yang lalu bagi mengatasinya. Mengurus masalah-masalah ini tidak mudah serta memerlukan analisis ‘the big picture’. Pemikiran sistem dapat membantu dalam hal seperti ini.

Kemahiran Interpersonal

Organisasi adalah sebuah sistem sosial dan kompleksitinya jelas terlihat melalui jenis, peringkat, bentuk dan jumlah interaksi yang berlaku. Proses komunikasi yang begitu dinamik menimbulkan pelbagai masalah yang boleh menyekat pencapaian sesebuah organisasi terutama dengan timbulnya salah faham dan konflik. Organisasi terpaksa melaburkan banyak masa dan tenaga serta dipesongkan daripada landasannya apabila keadaan ini timbul.

Individu dalam organisasi harus faham bahawa interaksi antara individu adalah satu proses yang tidak dapat dielakkan. Kalaupun tiada sebarang mesej diberikan secara langsung, perbuatan sedemikian juga adalah satu bentuk mesej yang boleh diinterpretasikan.

Komunikasi antara individu tidak boleh ditarik balik setelah ianya berlaku. Kalaupun usaha pembetulan diambil kemudiannya, kesannya tidak boleh tidak akan terpahat juga dalam pemikiran.

Komunikasi interpersonal bukan perkara mudah. Ahli teori berpendapat bahawa enam ‘pihak’ terlibat dalam interaksi sedemikian :

1) tanggapan perucap mengenai siapa beliau

2) tanggapan perucap mengenai penerima mesej

3) tanggapan perucap mengenai tanggapan penerima mengenainya

4) tanggapan penerima mengenai siapa dirinya

5) tanggapan penerima mengenai siapa perucap

6) tanggapan penerima mengenai tanggapan perucap mengenainya.

Komunikasi interpersonal juga berlaku secara kontekstual bergantung kepada keadaan, budaya, dan juga konteks psikologikal. Cara dan bentuk interaksi antara individu akan tercorak mengikut keadaan-keadaan ini.

Pengurusan Peribadi

Sungguhpun bentuk asas organisasi kekal, budaya organisasi dari segi falsafah dan cara berkerja telah melalui banyak perubahan. Pergerakan ke arah organisasi pembelajaran, penekanan kepada inovasi, penjelmaan teknologi tinggi serta proses integrasi pelbagai bidang dan kebudayaan menuntut supaya individu dalam organisasi turut berubah dari segi sikap dan pemikirannya.

Prinsip-prinsip yang diketengahkan oleh Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective people) umpamanya boleh dijadikan panduan. Walaupun prinsip-prinsip ini tidak boleh dianggap sesuatu yang baru semasa ianya diterbitkan, namun rangka pemikirannya boleh dicontohi dan dipersuaikan.

Tabiat-tabiat yang dimaksudkan sebagai peringatan semula ialah :

1) Proaktif

2) Mula dengan matlamat

3) Buat perkara pertama dahuhu

4) Fikirkan menang-menang

5) Cuba memahami dahulu, kemudian cuba untuk difahami

6) Bersinergi

7) Tajamkan gergaji.

Sebahagian daripada prinsip-prinsip ini sudah jelas dan apa sebenarnya yang perlu dilakukan ialah pengamalan sahaja.

Cuma dua tabiat akan ditekankan di sini iaitu bersinergi dan tajamkan gergaji. Sinergi dalam pengertian Covey ialah satu keadaan di mana keseluruhan lebih besar daripada hasil tambahan bahagiannya. Covey menganggap sinergi sebagai berkemampuan mewujudkan hasil yang menakjubkan seperti perkara-perkara baru atau alternatif baru yang dahulunya tidak wujud.

Dalam organisasi sinergi boleh berlaku antara individu dengan individu dan antara individu dengan komputer dan sebagainya. Dalam konteks individu, sinergi boleh mencetus pelbagai idea yang dapat menjurus kepada kelahiran idea, pendekatan, mekanisme, produk, proses dan peralatan baru. Kalau dipersuaikan dengan pemikiran sistem seperti dalam perbincangan awal, sudah pasti sinergi berkemampuan mensejahterakan organisasi.

Satu lagi tabiat yang membawa pengaruh perubahan yang besar ialah ‘tajamkan gergaji’. Covey mencadangkan pencapaian harmoni dan perseimbangan dalam empat dimensi berikut :

1) Fizikal

2) Mental

3) Rohani

4) Sosio-emosi

Bagi pengukuhan dimensi mental umpamanya, dicadangkan aktiviti-aktiviti seperti pembacaan, perancangan, penulisan dan visualisasi. Dimensi sosio-emosi pula menekankan kepada aspek-aspek kerjasama secara kreatif, kepimpinan dan komunikasi. Dimensi fizikal menentukan tahap kesihatan bagi memungkinkan pelaksanaan dimensi-dimensi lain termasuk dimensi rohani. Mengikut Covey, dimensi rohani kurang difikirkan sungguhpun banyak perilaku seseorang itu di pacu oleh nilai-nilai dalaman yang terbitnya daripada dimensi ini. Cara dan bagaimana pertumbuhan dimensi diuruskan patut ditentukan oleh sistem-sistem kepercayaan yang dianuti oleh individu.

Pembelajaran Kolaboratif

Pembelajaran kolaboratif adalah satu kaedah yang bertujuan meningkatkan kemahiran pemikiran kritikal. Nilai utamanya terletak kepada pembinaan semula pengetahuan dan idea melalui dialog rakan ke rakan, komentari, diskusi, perkongsian dan konseptualisasi semula.

Ciri-ciri utamanya adalah interaksi aktif berteraskan pertukaran idea yang menjurus kepada pembelajaran individu (melalui proses kumpulan), pembelajaran dari rakan dan pembelajaransecara kelompok. Dalam konteks organisasi pembelajaran, pendekatan ini menghasilkan peningkatan kemahiran secara berterusan dan dalam senario ICT sekarang, usaha kolaboratif dapat dilaksanakan di mana jua secara elektronik.

Peringkat-peringkat yang perlu dilalui oleh kumpulan individu bagi menjayakan pembelajaran kolaboratif adalah :

1) Membangun persefahaman bersama

2) Menumpu kepada minat dan kebimbangan dan juga hubungkait dengan isu-isu lain

3) Mengenalpasti situasi penambahbaikan dan perubahan

4) Membahas langkah penambahbaikan dan melaksana

Berbeza dengan pembelajaran lain, pendekatan kolaboratif lebih bersifat terbuka yang menghargai kebolehan dan sumbangan ahli kumpulan. Terdapat perkongsian autoriti dan penerimaan tanggungjawab di kalangan ahli. Pembelajaran kolaboratifbukanlah satu struktur. Ianya adalah satu falsafah pembelajaran yang boleh diapplikasikan dalam mana-mana situasi interaksi yang bertujuan mencapai sinergi melalui perkongsian dan sumbangan idea individu dalam kumpulan.

Sinergi

Walaupun konsep sinergi telah disebut di bawah tajuk pengurusan peribadi, penggunaan konsep sinergi di sini digunakan secara lebih luas. Sinergi datangnya daripada perkataan Greek ’synergia’ atau ’synergos’ yang bermaksud bekerja sama. Takrif yang cukup baik telah dikemukakan oleh Peter Corning (Synergy and Self-Organization In The Evolution Of Complex Systems- www.complexsystems.org) yang telah turut memperjelaskan fenomena ini yang rata-rata berlaku dalam alam haiwan, tumbuhan dan manusia. Pendek kata, fenomena ini berlaku secara meluas dalam pelbagai bidang sains seperti kimia, fizik, biologi, evolusi dan sebagainya.

Mengikut Corning, sinergi adalah kesan yang tidak dapat dicapai oleh bahagian secara bersendirian. Keseluruhan tidak semestinya melebihi hasil tambahan bahagiannya. Perhatikan perluasan konsep Corning berbanding dengan Covey. Corning juga menyebut tentang sinergi positif dan negatif. Ini bermakna sinergi juga mampu melipatgandakan kesan-kesan buruk dalam keadaan tertentu.

Walaupun sebanyak tujuh bentuk sinergi digariskan oleh Coming, disini disebut dua sahaja iaitu :

1) Fenomena ‘threshold’(threshold phenomenon) dan

2) Perkongsian kos dan risiko.

Fenomena ‘threshold’ adalah sinergi atau kesan yang berlaku apabila gabungan bahagian- bahagian mencapai satu tahap atau peringkat di mana satu kesan keseluruhan baru wujud. Di peringkat global peralihan daripada era perindustrian kepada era informasi adalah satu contoh yang jelas.

Perkongsian kos dan risiko juga adalah satu bentuk kerjasama sinergistik yang dapat dilihat dalam dunia haiwan dan juga masyarakat manusia. Dalam dunia haiwan fenomena ini terserlah dalam aktiviti memburu secara berkumpulan dan migrasi secara kelompok. Kecenderungan ini dapat dilihat juga dalam masyarakat manusia melalui gabungan seperti koperasi dan pertubuhan. Bentuk-bentuk sinergi yang terdapat dalam alam ciptaan dapat kita menfaatkan sebagai individu dan himpunan individu bagi menghasilkan kesan yang berganda berbanding dengan ketiadaan gabungan usaha. Jika kita faham bentuk-bentuknya sinergi boleh diperkenalkan sebagai satu pencetus atau penggerak dalam organisasi.

Anjakan Paradigma

Perkataan anjakan paradigma dipopularkan oleh Thomas Kuhn dalam tahun 1963 (The Structure of Scientific Revolution – www. Taketheleap.com). Mengikut Kuhn, kemajuan saintifik bukanlah satu proses evolusi, tapi satu siri selingan damai yang disentak oleh revolusi intelektual yang menggegarkan. Dalam revolusi ini berlaku satu penggantian dalam tassawur atau konsep ‘world view’. Diskusi ini tidak akan menggunakan definisi ini secara rigid, cuma meminjam maksud ‘peralihan’ atau anjakan yang tidak semestinya menggegarkan seperti penggunaan-nya secara meluas sekarang ini bagi menandakan satu pergerakan yang dicetuskan daripada satu keadaan dan idea.

Definisi di sini lebih merujuk kepada paradigma sebagai model, pola atau cara kita melihat dan menilai satu realiti atau keadaan – satu set peraturan atau kerangka yang kita pegang. Apabila berlaku perubahan dalam paradigma, maka ini disebut sebagai satu anjakan paradigma. Dalam banyak aspek, kehidupan manusia telah banyak berubah. Perubahan ini telah di pacu oleh pelbagai faktor seperti teknologi maklumat danjuga kemajuan di bidang sains yang lainnya. Perubahan- perubahan ini akan mencetuskan perubahan- perubahan lain seperti cara kita berkerja dan seterusnya menuntut penilaian kepada aspek- aspek kerja yang lain dan yang berkaitan. Pemikiran kita juga harus berubah bagi membolehkan kita terus berfungsi seiring dengan tuntutan- tuntutan baru ini.

Di peringkat organisasi contohnya telah timbul keperluan organisasi menjadi sebuah organisasi pembelajaran serta dianggotai oleh individu berpengetahuan. Individu dalam organisasi perlu mengubah paradigma lama mengenai peranan mereka dalam konteks peranan baru ini yang memerlukan pembudayaan pengetahuan. Pemesatan dan perubahan di bidang atau peringkat lain yang sekaligus mempengaruhi organisasi dan individu seperti K-ekonomi, kerajaan elektronik, perdagangan elektronik dan sebagainya akan menuntut penilaian semula kepada bentuk dan cara kita berfikir, berkhidmat dan mendapat perkhidmatan.

Perubahan-perubahan lain dalam falsafah organisasi seperti keutamaan kepada pelanggan, kualiti, akauntabiliti, budaya kerja baru dan lain-lain memerlukan individu menyemak kembali cara dan struktur pemikiran yang membolehkan pemindahan dan penyesuaian dibuat segera.

Anjakan paradigma dalam konteks semua ini bermakna mengubah kerangka pemikiran kepada realiti-realiti yang dibawa oleh perubahan-perubahan ini serta bertindak mengikut tuntutan-tuntutan paradigma baru. Lebih elok lagi kalau individu dapat, melalui teknik-teknik tertentu seperti ’scenario building’, ‘extrapolation’, analisis tren dan sebagainya mengunjur perubahan yang akan datang agar persediaan awal dapat dibuat.

Penutup

Individu dan kelompok individu yang mewujudkan entiti sosial dalam organisasi adalah aset terpenting dalam membentuk, mencorak, membudaya, mengurus, menentukan haluan dan juga kegagalan atau kejayaan sesebuah organisasi. Dalam memainkan dan menghidupkan peranan dan tanggungjawabnya, seorang individu perlu tahu tempatnya dalam sistem terdekatnya dan juga interaksi sistem itu dengan sistem-sistem lain serta meningkatkan keupayaannya ke arah pencapaian sinergi positif dalam organisasi. Pembinaan kemahiran baru dan budaya baru perlu dijelmakan dalam diri melalui kesedaran tentang perubahan di sekeliling yang menuntut kepada anjakan dalam cara kita berfikir dan bertindak.

No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Many of the problems that occur in a organization are the direct result of people failing to communicate. Faulty communication causes the most problems. It leads to confusion and can cause a good plan to fail. Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another. It involves a sender transmitting an idea to a receiver. Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit.

Studying the communication process is important because you coach, coordinate, counsel, evaluate, and supervise through this process. It is the chain of understanding that integrates the members of an organization from top to bottom, bottom to top, and side to side.

The Communication Process

Communication
That is what we try to do
Speak to those near us

• Thought: First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be a concept, idea, information, or feelings.
• Encoding: Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols.
• Decoding: lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or information that he or she can understand.

During the transmitting of the message, two processes will be received by the receiver: content and context. Content is the actual words or symbols of the message which is known aslanguage – the spoken and written words combined into phrases that make grammatical and semantic sense. We all use and interpret the meanings of words differently, so even simple messages can be misunderstood. And many words have different meanings to confuse the issue even more.

Context is the way the message is delivered and is known as Paralanguage – it includes the tone of voice, the look in the sender’s eye’s, body language, hand gestures, and state of emotions (anger, fear, uncertainty, confidence, etc.) that can be detected. Although paralanguage or context often causes messages to be misunderstood as we believe what we see more than what we hear; they are powerful communicators that help us to understand each other. Indeed, we often trust the accuracy of nonverbal behaviors more than verbal behaviors.

Some leaders think they have communicated once they told someone to do something, “I don’t know why it did not get done…I told Jim to it.” More than likely, Jim misunderstood the message. A message has NOT been communicated unless it is understood by the receiver (decoded). How do you know it has been properly received? By two-way communication or feedback. This feedback tells the sender that the receiver understood the message, its level of importance, and what must be done with it. Communication is an exchange, not just a give, as all parties must participate to complete the information exchange.

Barriers to Communication

Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood. – Freeman Teague, Jr.

Anything that prevents understanding of the message is a barrier to communication. Many physical and psychological barriers exist:

• Culture, background, and bias - We allow our past experiences to change the meaning of the message. Our culture, background, and bias can be good as they allow us use our past experiences to understand something new, it is when they change the meaning of the message then they interfere with the communication process.
• Noise - Equipment or environmental noise impede clear communication. The sender and the receiver must both be able to concentrate on the messages being sent to each other.

Ourselves - Focusing on ourselves, rather than the other person can lead to confusion and conflict. The “Me Generation” is out when it comes to effective communication. Some of the factors that cause this are defensiveness (we feel someone is attacking us), superiority (we feel we know more that the other), and ego (we feel we

• defensiveness (we feel someone is attacking us), superiority (we feel we know more that the other), and ego (we feel we are the center of the activity).
• Perception - If we feel the person is talking too fast, not fluently, does not articulate clearly, etc., we may dismiss the person. Also our preconceived attitudes affect our ability to listen. We listen uncritically to persons of high status and dismiss those of low status.
• Message - Distractions happen when we focus on the facts rather than the idea. Our educational institutions reinforce this with tests and questions. Semantic distractions occur when a word is used differently than you prefer. For example, the word chairman instead of chairperson, may cause you to focus on the word and not the message.
• Environmental - Bright lights, an attractive person, unusual sights, or any other stimulus provides a potential distraction.
• Smothering - We take it for granted that the impulse to send useful information is automatic. Not true! Too often we believe that certain information has no value to others or they are already aware of the facts.
• Stress - People do not see things the same way when under stress. What we see and believe at a given moment is influenced by our psychological frames of references – our beliefs, values, knowledge, experiences, and goals.

These barriers can be thought of as filters, that is, the message leaves the sender, goes through the above filters, and is then heard by the receiver. These filters muffle the message. And the way to overcome filters is through active listening and feedback.

Active Listening

Hearing and listening are not the same thing. Hearing is the act of perceiving sound. It is involuntary and simply refers to the reception of aural stimuli. Listening is a selective activity which involves the reception and the interpretation of aural stimuli. It involves decoding the sound into meaning.

Listening is divided into two main categories: passive and active. Passive listening is little more that hearing. It occurs when the receiver or the message has little motivation to listen carefully, such as music, story telling, television, or being polite.

People speak at 100 to 175 words per minute, but they can listen intelligently at 600 to 800 words per minute (WPM). Since only a part of our mind is paying attention, it is easy to go into mind drift – thinking about other things while listening to someone. The cure for this is active listening – which involves listening with a purpose. It may be to gain information, obtain directions, understand others, solve problems, share interest, see how another person feels, show support, etc. It requires that the listener attends to the words and the feelings of the sender for understanding. It takes the same amount or more energy than speaking. It requires the receiver to hear the various messages, understand the meaning, and then verify the meaning by offering feedback. The following are a few traits of active listeners:

• Spends more time listening than talking.
• Do not finish the sentence of others.
• Do not answer questions with questions.
• Are aware of biases. We all have them…we need to control them.
• Never daydreams or become preoccupied with their own thoughts when others talk.
• Lets the other speaker talk. Does not dominate the conversation.
• Plans responses after the other person has finished speaking…NOT while they are speaking.
• Provides feedback, but does not interrupt incessantly.
• Analyzes by looking at all the relevant factors and asking open-ended questions.
• Keeps the conversation on what the speaker says…NOT on what interests them.
• Takes brief notes. This forces them to concentrate on what is being said.

Feedback

When you know something, say what you know. When you don’t know something, say that you don’t know. That is knowledge. – Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius)

The purpose of feedback is to change and alter messages so the intention of the original communicator is understood by the second communicator. It includes verbal and nonverbal responses to another person’s message.

Providing feedback is accomplished by paraphrasing the words of the sender. Restate the sender’s feelings or ideas in your own words, rather than repeating their words. Your words should be saying, “This is what I understand your feelings to be, am I correct?” It not only includes verbal responses, but also nonverbal ones. Nodding your head or squeezing their hand to show agreement, dipping your eyebrows shows you don’t quite understand the meaning of their last phrase, or sucking air in deeply and blowing it hard shows that you are also exasperated with the situation.

Carl Roger listed five main categories of feedback. They are listed in the order in which they occur most frequently in daily conversations. Notice that we make judgments more often than we try to understand:

• Evaluative: Making a judgment about the worth, goodness, or appropriateness of the other person’s statement.
• Interpretive: Paraphrasing – attempting to explain what the other person’s statement means.
• Supportive: Attempting to assist or bolster the other communicator.
• Probing: Attempting to gain additional information, continue the discussion, or clarify a point.
• Understanding: Attempting to discover completely what the other communicator means by her statements.

Imagine how much better daily communications would be if listeners tried to understand first, before they tried to evaluate what someone is saying.

• Walks the person through your analysis (summarize).
  

  Nonverbal Behaviors of Communication

  Without knowing the force of words it is impossible to know men.” – Confucius

  To deliver the full impact of a message, use nonverbal behaviors to raise the channel of interpersonal communication:

• Eye contact: This helps to regulate the flow of communication. It signals interest in others and increases the speaker’s credibility. People who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth, and credibility.
• Facial Expressions: Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits happiness, friendliness, warmth, and liking. So, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable. Smiling is often contagious and people will react favorably. They will be more comfortable around you and will want to listen more.
• Gestures: If you fail to gesture while speaking you may be perceived as boring and stiff. A lively speaking style captures the listener’s attention, makes the conversation more interesting, and facilitates understanding.

Posture and body orientation: You communicate numerous messages by the way you talk and move. Standing erect and leaning forward communicates to listeners that you are approachable, receptive and friendly. Interpersonal closeness results when you and the listener face each other.

• Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as it communicates disinterest.
• Proximity: Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with others. You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading the other person’s space. Some of these are: rocking, leg swinging, tapping, and gaze aversion.
• Vocal: Speaking can signal nonverbal communication when you include such vocal elements as: tone, pitch, rhythm, timbre, loudness, and inflection. For maximum teaching effectiveness, learn to vary these six elements of your voice. One of the major criticisms of many speakers is that they speak in a monotone voice. Listeners perceive this type of speaker as boring and dull.

Speaking Hints

Speak comfortable words!” – William Shakespeare

When speaking or trying to explain something, ask the listeners if they are following you. Ensure the receiver has a chance to comment or ask questions. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes – Consider the feelings of the receiver. Be clear about what you say. Look at the receiver. Make sure your words match your tone and body language (Nonverbal Behaviors). Vary your tone and pace. Do not be vague, but on the other hand, Do not complicate what you are saying with too much detail. Do not ignore signs of confusion.

On Communication Per Se (a few random thoughts)

On Discussing Communication

Trying to speak of something as messy as communication in technical terms seems to be another form of the “math and science” argument, that is, math and science and technology are the answer to all of our problems. – Anonymous

But what forms of human behavior are not messy? Learning is not “antiseptic,” yet it is discussed all the time — we do not leave it to the academics, Bloom, Knowles, Dugan, or Rossett. Leadership and management topics seems to be even messier, yet we categorize it,

build models of it, index it, chop it and slice it and dice it, build pyramids out of it, and generally have a good time discussing it. But when it comes to “communication,” we call it too messy to play with and leave it up to Chomsky, Pinker, and others to write about so that we can read about it. Yet we all communicate almost every single day of our lives, which is much more than we will ever do with learning or leadership.

Paul Ekman

In the mid 1960s, Paul Ekman studied emotions and discovered six facial expressions that almost everyone recognizes world-wide: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise. Although they were controversial at first, he was booed off the stage when he first presented it to a group of anthropologists and later called a fascist and a racist, they are now widely accepted. One of the controversies still lingering is the amount of context needed to interpret them. For example, if someone reports to me that they have this great ideal that they would like to implement, and I say that would be great, but I look on them with a frown, is it possible that I could be thinking about something else? The trouble with these extra signals is that we do not always have the full context. What if the person emailed me and I replied great (while frowning). Would it evoke the same response?

Emotions

Trust your instincts. Most emotions are difficult to imitate. For example, when you are truly happy, the muscles used for smiling are controlled by the limbic system and others, which are not under voluntary control. When you force a smile, a different part of the brain is used — the cerebral cortex (under voluntary control), hence different muscles are used. This is why a clerk, who might not have any real interest in you, has a “fake” look when he forces a smile.

Of course, some actors learn to control all of their face muscles, while others draw on a past emotional experience to produce the emotional state they want. But this is not an easy trick to pull off all the time. There is a good reason for this — part of our emotions evolved to deal with other people and our empathic nature. If these emotions could easily be faked, they would do more harm than good (Pinker, 1997).

So our emotions not only guide our decisions, they can also communicated to others to help them in their decisions — of course their emotions will be the ultimate guide, but the emotions they discover in others becomes part of their knowledge base.

Mehrabian and the 7%-38%-55% Myth

We often hear that the content of a message is composed of:

• 55% of the content from the visual component
• 38% from the auditory component
• 7% from language

However, the above percentages only apply in a very narrow context. A researcher named Mehrabian was interested in where people get information about a speaker’s general attitude is positive, neutral, or negative, towards the person the speaker is addressing in situations where the facial expression, the tone, and the words might be sending conflicting signals.

Thus, he designed a couple of experiments. In one, Mehrabian and Ferris (1967) researched the interaction of speech, facial expressions, and tone. Three different speakers were instructed to say “maybe” with three different attitudes towards their listener (positive, neutral, or negative). Next, photographs of the faces of three female models were taken as they attempted to convey the emotions of like, neutrality, and dislike.

Test groups were then instructed to listen to the various renditions of the word “maybe,” with the pictures of the models, and were asked to rate the attitude of the speaker. Note that the emotion and tone were often mixed, such as a facial expression showing dislike, with the word “maybe” spoken in a positive tone.

Significant effects of facial expression and tone were found in that the study suggested that the combined effect of simultaneous verbal, vocal and facial attitude communications is a weighted sum of their independent effects with the coefficients of .07, .38, and .55, respectively.

Mehrabian and Ferris also wrote about a deep limitation to their research: “These findings regarding the relative contribution of the tonal component of a verbal message can be safely extended only to communication situations in which no additional information about the communicator-addressee relationship is available.” Thus, what can be concluded is that when people communicate, listeners derive information about the speaker’s attitudes towards the listener from visual, tonal, and verbal cues; yet the percentage derived can vary greatly depending upon a number of other factors, such as actions, context of the communication, and how well they know that person.

References

[Tags: communication emotions ]

Butler, Gillian, Ph.D. and Hope, Tony, M.D. (1996). Managing Your Mind. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mehrabian, Albert and Morton Wiener, 1967, “Decoding of inconsistent communications,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 6:109-114

Mehrabian, Albert and Susan R. Ferris, 1967, “Inference of attitudes from nonverbal communication in two channels,” Journal of Consulting Psychology 31:248-252.

Pearson, J. (1983). Interpersonal Communication. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foreman and Company.

Pinker, Steven (1997). How the Mind Works. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.