ICBC warns teens for prom
44-year-old woman missing
Stanley Cup Playoff etiquette
Senators reject field trip
'City within a city'
Searching landfill for woman
Israeli strike played down
Full Trump jury seated
World's largest election 
Lululemon cuts 100 jobs
Bitcoin's 'halving' arrives
Lawsuit over missing nuts
Warriors ready for Round 2
Kalamalka Bowl cancelled
Rockets live to fight on
Pulp Fiction turns 30
Chris Pratt injured in movie
My name is not Elaine
Photo: Contributed
Remember the game Chinese Whispers?
One person gives a short sentence to the next person and by the time everyone has communicated the sentence around the room, the final recipient is not able to even closely represent the initial version.
The same is true in so many facets of life and business.
We all have a habit of hearing what we want to hear, so much so that we are not even listening to what someone is telling us.
Steven Covey, business author always suggested that we “Seek first to understand.”
Before we take a position on something, let's understand what the other person is trying to communicate. It is so easy to jump to conclusions or accuse somebody of taking a particular stance when in fact, we ourselves are so off base it is ridiculous.
We are on an eleven week journey of nobody listening to anybody else about politics. Even politicians themselves will refrain from listening because their only purpose is to get their point across. We just simply take a stance without seeking first to understand. Perhaps a plague of the modern world thanks to Oliver Cromwell. Every opinion counts and you are about to hear many of them.
Another area that we encounter challenges with communication is marriage. In fact, communication ranks very highly in terms of reasons for marriage break ups, or rather, lack of communication.
In the next week or so I celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary with Jackie. It is testimony to the fact that she has worked so very hard to “seek first to understand” that we have such a great marriage. Not that I am right (much of the time) but she understands my position much better.
Communication is the key to sorting out problems in a marriage. A willingness to discuss a situation in order to resolve it. I would highly recommend that if you are struggling with an issue and it is emotional, choose to try and resolve it in a public place. Put yourself in an environment where you are encouraged to be a little more thoughtful and in control rather than letting your emotions get the better of you.
Better still, and the biggest tip we passed on to our children is never go to bed with an unresolved dispute Trust me, the extra hour or two to sort something out come with the added benefit of a much better sleep.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
