A bride once asked a cake decorator to inscribe the words from I John 4:18 on her wedding cake: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” The decorator’s knowledge of the Bible, unfortunately, barely went past Sunday school; instead of putting the words from I John 4:18 on the cake, she wrote the words from the Gospel of John 4:18, which read: “You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband…”
What a tragedy!
This illustrates that that one of the world’s biggest problems is not money, business, love or even one’s mental capacity; the thing that always causes problems is miscommunication.
While communication is defined as the transfer of information and ideas during interactions between people, miscommunication, subsequently, is unclear or inadequate communication.
The major cause of miscommunication is poor encoding (sending) and decoding (receiving) of messages.
Consider some solutions.
1. Listen
Pay attention to the message.
2. Assume misunderstanding
One study indicates that misunderstanding is the common state between individuals and groups rather than understanding – even though we assume the opposite.
To quote George Bernard Shaw, an Irish literary critic, playwright and essayist, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
3. Select the best method for communicating
More than one method is almost always recommended to insure understanding takes place.
4. Do not stop communicating until the message is understood.
Finally, remember there’s no magic formula to guarantee that misunderstandings or disagreements will never occur. The best you can hope for is to minimize misunderstanding and increase the odds of getting your points across to others.