Comunication

Communication needs to be two ways. There needs to be a time to talk and a time to listen. If you are only willing to talk and not let others talk to you, you are not communicating. In that case where only one is doing the talking and not listening, that is dictation possibly, but not communication. Some times it is the way we say things. Once, on my job,  an electrician asked if we could reroute a wire bundle across the airplane at a different location than had been designed. I investigated the issue. I knew rerouting would make his job easier, simply because he told me it would. I discovered that doing what this electrician was asking would add 48 feet to 24 wires and shorten none. In spite of the fact that it would make his job easier, I knew this would add a lot of weight to the airplane and it would never be approved. Airplane builders are constantly looking for ways to reduce weight. If his request had reduced weight instead of adding weight, it would have probably been a slam dunk.  But I knew I had to tell him no. I learned something, I told the electrician no and then tried to explain why. He was already angry that I shot it down and wouldn't even hear my explanation. Perhaps the same happens when we hurt someone with words. We start off by trying to explain our point of view and then say I am sorry. We need to say I am sorry first, and perhaps maybe even at a later time we can explain our words or our thoughts at that time. Some times if the I am sorry does not come first, we may never have a chance to explain. Sometimes it is not even necessary to explain. I am sorry may go a long way to healing a hurt. If a person won't hear you, it is impossible to say I am sorry and that is on that person. Enough said, communication needs to be two way. I think communication needs to be almost 50 / 50 listening and talking for it to be effective. If we do not listen how do we know that the person we are conversing with heard what we really wanted to say and not just some mumbo jumbo. Some of us are big talkers, some use less words. It is important to know if we have used enough words to convey our thought, and that can happen only by listening. God help me to listen more and to know the words I have used have conveyed the thought I intended and not something different.  God bless, LVZ.