by Carl Pritchard
In discussing risk, I often make reference to an episode early in my career when I was driving down the GW Parkway outside Washington, DC in the early morning hours. It was just before dawn as I whipped around the long curve near the CIA. There she was . . . in the middle of the road:
Bambi.
That's right. Morning rush hour in a major metropolitan city, and I'm whacking a deer and becoming the clog in the morning rush hour. This was far from the highlight of my driving career, but it did make a powerful point. When folks ask me about the risks of driving in Washington, I immediately respond: "DEER!"
What's compelling is that I have shared that story so many times, that I begin to believe that everyone has heard it. They haven't. But I often use the term "deer" in my conversations with others about risk to refer to some risk we have "hit" in our careers. I know what I mean. Those who have been in my classes or keynotes know what I mean. But the term "deer" is far from synonymous with "things that you have hit one time in your whole life, but which loom so large that you continually cite them as significant, even though it's a remote chance you will ever hit them again."
Without context, communications among team members is challenging at best. And as we venture through the holiday seasons, we assume that others around us share the same context. Think of the context you have for this time of year. For some, it's snow, sleds, bayberry, and presents. For others, it's church, family, friends, cards, and reverence. For others still, it's a menorah, dreidel, and the history of the Maccabees.
As we manage, we have a habit of invoking terms and terminology, assuming that others share our communications context. We believe they have enough background to know who Yukon Cornelius and the Bumble are. We believe that if we tell someone they're a regular Mr. Potter or Grinch, they'll catch the references. We suspect that if we invite someone over for a steaming bowl of Christmas bishop, they won't think we've gone cannibal on them.
(All of these references are explained at the bottom of this article, by the way).
What's noteworthy is that many of you scrolled down to the bottom of the article to find the one reference that you didn't catch or understand. Context is everything in communications. We squander that little bit of insight far too often. By respecting and appreciating context, we have the ability to build better communications relationships. And we can do it with affirmations that we're members of the same communicating family as those around us. Take this simple holiday test. See how many of these holiday references you recognize:
- Jelly-of-the-month-club
- God bless us, everyone
- I wouldn't touch you with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole
- We're the wet bandits!
- The Feast of Stephen
- My lip's bleedin', Bert!
- Brings health to the body and wealth to the pocket
Again, the answers are down at the bottom of the article, but notice how you felt about any of the obscure ones you recognized. There was a moment of self-satisfaction that you knew some arcane reference. And yet, those arcane references can become touchstones for effective communication. For anyone who saw the movie Christmas Vacation, the moment Chevy Chase discovers he's not getting the five-figure bonus he was expected, but instead gets the Jelly-of-the-Month Club, he goes ballistic. He loses it. And his employer is excoriated (and more) for sheer idiocy in thinking that was an appropriate gift. If your whole team has that as a reference, and someone labels an idea as a "jelly-of-the-month-club-class" idea, there's richness to the communication that is captured in that one-line phrase. It's an insider's insight. It's both an inside joke and a clarifying notion.
The ability to use context stems from the natural human proclivity for sharing and accepting information most effectively in stories. We are deeply story-bound. And if we can get others to share their stories, we create a much tighter communications bond. And we can also leverage that bond when we're trying to integrate new parties into our tightly knit communications circles. By letting them in on the lore, stories, and inside jokes of the organization, we make them insiders.
Some communications theorists suggest that the more we can do to expunge context from our communications, the further ahead we are. I believe that's actually counter to effective communications. The real victories are won when we draw others in. And we do that by telling them what we want to share in richer detail . . . not less.
You have a wonderful opportunity at this time of year. With holiday feasting, cousins, and decor, it's a time rich with fresh stories both at work and at home. And if we can get others to share the context that those stories offer, we all win. So try it. Find some analogy that is a perfect fit when someone on your team accomplishes great things unexpectedly. From analogies of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer to George Bailey, context abounds. Give the gift of higher context. It's a gift that keeps on giving.
CONTEXT REFERENCES FOR THIS ARTICLE
- Snow, sleds, bayberry and presents are references to the classic secular Christmas.
- Church, family, friends, cards and reverence are often associated with the birth of Christ.
- The menorah, dreidel and Maccabees are all references to Channukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.
- Yukon Cornelius and the Bumble are characters in the holiday classic TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
- Mr. Potter was the evil banker trying to ruin the lovable but hapless George Bailey in the Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life.
- The Grinch is the creature attempting to ruin Christmas in the classic children's book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss.
- Ebenezer Scrooge offers to take Bob Cratchit out to discuss his future over a steaming bowl of Christmas bishop (a special holiday soup) after his reformation in the Dickens holiday tale, A Christmas Carol.
(DON'T GO FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN THE QUICK QUIZ IN THE ARTICLE YET!)
- God bless us, everyone
Tiny Tim's valediction at the end of the holiday classic, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
- I wouldn't touch you with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole
What the narrator sings (in a rich baritone) regarding the Grinch in the TV special, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- We're the wet bandits!
The acclamation of the antagonists in the movie Home Alone, screamed as they're being hauled off by the authorities
- The Feast of Stephen
The Christmastime Catholic feast prominently featured in the carol "Good King Wenceslas"
- My lip's bleedin', Bert!
The moment of revelation for George Bailey that he's back in his own world in the Frank Capra classic, It's a Wonderful Life
- Brings health to the body and wealth to the pocket
The last line of the New Years' tradition regarding the superstition that on New Years' Eve, "A bayberry candle burned to the socket, brings health to the body and wealth to the pocket."
Carl Pritchard is working on his holiday season context from Frederick, MD, where he and his elves run Pritchard Management Associates. He welcomes your insights, comments and stories at carl@carlpritchard.com, and encourages you to visit his website at www.carlpritchard.com. ©2009, Pritchard Management Associates