We said it is a bull, they asked us to milk it...

Communication gap. This is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to you at a workplace. Especially when the organization is big. And the problem is that such a misfortune need not involve a party with a lack of understanding. Both sides can be perfectly right with their own perspective. And yet both can fail to convey to the other side their true intentions. It is pretty interesting to analyze how such situations develop. And what is the behavior of the parties involved in it. And what are the outcomes in such situations. How does a communication gap occur? First reason that comes to mind is faulty communication technique. Second, use of non unique symbols. Another reason could be lack of commonality in the channel. Problems with syntax and semantics are obvious. Now there are more interesting issues too. What are they? Pride. Prejudice. Politics. Parochialism. I call it the 4Ps of communication gap. Let me elaborate for the sake of clarity. No pun intended here...

Pride. There is a little bit of it in every person who has some knowledge of something. And there is none of it in that person who has the wisdom of realizing that pride clouds knowledge itself. Yes. Knowledge is knowing. Wisdom is realizing. And pride has no place in a wise person. However. Pride by its mere presence makes a party see things in a completely different light. In fact, the problem is severe when pride does not let a party see things in the right way. You know it is right. But your ego wont let you accept it. And theres the first cause of the great gap. Prejudice. Once you see things in one particular light, then the thing itself is colored that way for you. You fail to see that the light is not the attribute of that object. It is merely reflecting from it. It is your gaze that falls on the object. Science and philosophy cannot converge more beautifully than this. Rigidity in thought and actions are the second cause of the great gap. In fact, it would not be too wrong to say that if pride creates a gap, then prejudice only widens it. Next is politics. Well. It is hard to find one aspect of life that does not suffer from or benefit from this scourge. The politics which allows two sides to accept some of the other side's views and opinions while disagreeing on others is the one which delivers benefits. The politics which creates a vacuum between two sides is the opening to a valley of suffering. In such a game, everyone is right. And yet no one is. Remember the story of the blind men touching the elephant and describing different parts. All were saying different things. All were right within their scope. And yet all were wrong. The politics of vacuum is exactly this. All are blinded by their intolerance and radical values. These values might be driven either by personal agenda or to maintain the status quo. This is the third cause of the great gap. And now the final cause. Parochialism. It is easier to explain this one using the previous example too. Narrowmindedness breeds indifference. You dont care about others. And all you care is about you, yourself and your thoughts and beliefs. You will always hold the opinion that the hill outside the town is bigger than the sun. If something that is said goes against your beliefs, then you will ignore it as pure fiction. And no fact will reverse your understanding. This is the fourth cause of the great gap.

Outcomes of such situations?? Two words. Dead end. Thats it. So, now going back to the title of the blog today. There was a very interesting episode at my workplace. I will neither judge the intelligence nor the personality of the parties involved. Suffice to say. We said it is a bull, they asked us to milk it...