Recently finishing Outliers, I was really struck by the section on mitigated speech and airplane crashes. Gladwell‘s definition of mitigated speech on page 194 is:
Mitigated speech – any attempt to downplay or sugarcoat the meaning of what is being said.
In short, co-pilots may not communicate clearly with captains out of deference. They hint at things instead of speaking directly. Which leads to crashes and death. From page 193 of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book:
Fischer and Orasanu found that captains overhwelmingly said they would issue a command in that situation: “Turn thirty degrees right.” They were talking to a subordinate. They had no fear of being blunt. The first officers, on the other hand, were talking to their boss, and so they overwhelmingly chose the most mitigated alternative. They hinted.
…a hint is the hardest kind of request to decode and the easiest to refuse.
Gladwell goes on to explain this is more of a problem in cultures with, using Hofstede’s Dimensions, have what is called a higher “Power Distance Index“.
Power distance is concerned with attitudes towards hierarchy, specifically with how much a particular culture values and respects authority. (pg 204)
A culture with a larger power distance index will have more hints. The west, and I’d agree speaking as an American, is “what linguists call a “transmitter orientation” – that is, it is considered the responsibility of the speaker to communicate ideas clearly and unambiguously.” (pg 216)
Working at a small company we have to train people how to write a decent email. The biggest part is helping people understand the burden of communication is ON YOU! Our email help file is linked and the short version is:
- Subject Lines – all emails need a well articulated and relevant Subject Line.
- Links - ease of use changes behavior. (link it!)
- Numbered Lists – organize YOUR information. Bullets are evil.
- Short Paragraphs – with rare exceptions
- Nickel words – save them for scrabble
Going back to Gladwell, part of the solution for one airline was to switch to speaking English. By using a different language their learned subtleties of their native tongue were reduced thereby reducing accidents. Inter company email isn’t anywhere near as dangerous as piloting a jet. But nonetheless in a recession who has time for coworkers burning money with lazy communication skills?
And Gladwell isn’t alone. In the book The Influencer there is a case study on positive deviance for villages that did NOT suffer from Guinea Worm in Africa and Asia. The two “vital behaviors” that prevented the outbreak were:
- “In the worm-free village, the women … took a second pot, covered it with their skirts, and poured the water through their skirt into the pot, effectively straining out the problem-causing larvae.” (pg 360
- “The vital recovery behavior, then, was that friends and neighbors had to speak up when the Guinea worm sufferer was unwilling to do so. Only when the community took responsibility for compliance could the entire village protect itself from the failure of a single villager.” (pg 38)
Again we see the second critical issue is speaking up with candor. And basically turning your neighbor in for the good of the community. Communication is so critical airplanes crash and villages live in a painful cycle of disease without people who are willing to speak up.
And the importance of communication is more grave than ever. From The Rise of the Network Society pg 357.
Because culture is mediated and enacted through communication, cultures themselves – that is, our historically produced systems of beliefs and codes – become fundamentally transformed, and will be more so over time, by the new technological system.
Communication matters. And culture is part of that communication. I am unaware of any evidence that supports “hinting”, “deference” and other weak forms of communication as good for anything. Maybe in a medieval court, but it clearly has no place in modern society. Speak up, take care of the people you care about.
Hi Ed,
Great post!
With regard to:
Numbered Lists – organize YOUR information. Bullets are evil.
When I see numbered lists, I automatically think about the list as either a set of instructions that are to be followed in numerical order or a list of things in order of their prominence (“Top 10 Things…”) Would bullets still be the right solution when just listing the most salient points of a subject without regard to order?
Do you think that, when organizing information in this way (numerically), more attention should be the paid to the prominence of each point? Should number ’1′ be the most important or number ’10′? Does it matter?
Have a great New Year!
Jason
Posted on January 2, 2009 at 10:02 am.
You’re right — speaking up makes a world of difference.
But I wonder if individuals adopt weak forms of communication after receiving negative feedback when they use more direct forms. Some may find it difficult to be tactful when being direct, and it leads them to the other extreme – passive communication.
There’s always a middle ground, which is tactful, direct communication, but not everyone naturally excels at it.
Posted on January 2, 2009 at 10:17 am.
Outliers is on the top of my reading stack by my bed, waiting for me to finish either Groundswell or Art & Fear. I am eager to get to it – too many people I admire and respect have asked recently, “Have you read Outliers?”
One helpful tip may be to start listening for the flags of weak speech in our own conversations. Words like maybe, trying, asking, possibly, basically, hoping, probably and perhaps all are examples of this weaker form of speech.
Then again, the mode of speech in a jet or in a critical situation, may not be the most effective mode of speech in a more open environment such as when brainstorming with others. Does Gladwell touch on how downplaying ideas can be beneficial when you want to add and discuss ideas while delaying feedback and critical thinking for later?
Posted on January 2, 2009 at 11:24 am.
I received Outliers for Christmas. But I also received Too Fat to Fish. Now I am embarrassed to admit that Outliers remains uncracked while Too Fat to Fish, with its tales of drinking and drug abuse, is nearly finished. But what I am really writing to say is that “hinting”, “deference” and other weak forms of communication do have a purpose — and that is to protect the status quo of the communicator. The communicator in such cases is not a risk taker and sees the down side of confronting the leadership with their personal assessment of a subject or situation. That's why comment boxes and other forms of anonymous communication provide an extremely valuable feedback loop for many organizations.
Posted on January 7, 2009 at 10:34 am.
@Jason: – Thanks for the comment! My point on bullet-ed lists is that you, the author, assume you are summarizing the salient points. OK, all good. Unfortunately the recipient automatically assumes bullets are ordered in priority order. So forcing yourself to use numbered lists is an easy way to be sure YOU are communicating your thoughts as they are being written. And yes, people naturally pay attention to number 1, the first bullet, maybe the first three. And assume that bullet points or numbered items 8 to 20 are lower in priority. Just human nature as far as I can tell, at least in Western culture.
@Sheena: – courtesy and etiquette matter a great deal. Wars are avoided by avoiding cultural insults (does W know what "throwing shoes" means? Hopefully not for another 20 days or so!). The solution as you noted is readily available: "a middle ground, which is tactful, direct communication". But if people don't understand your point in business, they can cost a co-worker their job all the while feeling good about themselves. Example: In the tech sector, with a strong prevalence of borderline Aspergers, being direct and speaking with candor is your only hope IMHO.
@James: This —> "One helpful tip may be to start listening for the flags of weak speech in our own conversations. Words like maybe, trying, asking, possibly, basically, hoping, probably and perhaps all are examples of this weaker form of speech." –> is the recipient accepting responsibility for communication. If the person being spoken to is tired, if they don’t invest the energy into understanding the vague blathering of the demure communicator, (male female differences in relationships should be noted here, but that is another blog post), then misunderstandings occur. Next thing – dogs and cats live together, airplanes crash, and I wind up bewildered and sleeping on the couch (hypothetically of course).
@Dan Keeney: – yes, weak forms of communication protect the communicator. Just be sure not to hire that weak communicator if you can avoid it. If you love them, support them, but seriously try to not hire them. They might have brilliant ideas, but nobody will ever know given the weak communication methods. They are as valuable as a tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it.
Posted on January 8, 2009 at 12:36 pm.
Ed, did you see you have an opportunity to lunch with Malcolm Gladwell, this week? Per yesterday's HouChron (Zest section): 11:30a-1:30p @ Hilton-Americas, $75 includes luncheon and copy of book. Contact Jill Reese @ 713.844.3682, jreese@houston.org. I'm sure you're all over it, just wanted to be sure you'd seen it! (You coulda been under a rock this weekend, y'know.)
Posted on January 19, 2009 at 8:03 pm.
Chris – oh yes, I saw that. We purchased a table for 10 to see Gladwell on Wednesday. I'll be there, notepad and camera in hand! Thanks for pointing it out though just in case I missed it. I so appreciate you looking out for us! Thanks Chris! – Ed
Posted on January 19, 2009 at 8:18 pm.
My instincts were correct: Of course you'll be making the scene! "I need ROLLER skates to keep up with YOU!"** (Roller skates … or Twitter?!) Will look for your luncheon recap, and am glad to be on the lookout for you!
(**Name that 70s advertising campaign. It reverberates with me yet today…!)
Posted on January 19, 2009 at 8:59 pm.
While those are great tips…especially for your own company… it is still ,to coin a phrase from 1985, now hackneyed, "putting lipstick on a pig". I share some of those same pet peeves (particularly the subject line) but, in the end the problem is email, it is now how we can best use it. There may be better alternatives emerging. Most companies (and managers) don't realize what a drain email is.
Robert Scoble recently outlined some of what is wrong with email and how Google Wave still doesn't hit the mark. Worth a read http://scobleizer.com/2009/10/03/google-waves-unp...
Posted on November 17, 2009 at 1:06 am.