Words-- do they mean what they say..
Recently somebody asked me what i understand of diplomacy... Given the fact that my work requires me to be diplomatic i always thought myself capable of possessing that quality But I was surprised at myself when the two answers i gave to the person both turned out to be incorrect. Having looked it up it gave me an idea that it was something to do with negotiating skills. Hmm I sure knew that.. But why wasnt i able to answer it. Presumably because almost all the time i use it thinking that I am aware of the answer and using diplomacy in the everyday language, I was .only using my interpretation of the word.
I have seen organizations using verbiages that everybody uses, but everyone interprets it differently. My definition of honesty will always be different from other.. I normally suggest organization to come to a common understanding of the values and words they want to imbibe as a culture. However unfortunately i find it difficult for organizations to imbibe that concept. Just today I attended a staff meeting for an organization where lot of theory was being talked about. The people there were listening and trying to imbibe what was being said. Infact what i found particularly intriguing was that at the end of teh discussion people were sold in to the concept. They believed every word of what was being said. But i have been following this organization for the past 10 years. Somehow I have a feeling that though these words are spoken out loud in the organization, and all people believe in it as well but like I mentioned, they have there own interpretations of these words.
So the question arises if what I say is correct, why do people still behave similarly in an organization despite ambiguity of interpretation. The answer that I possibly think is that it is because of the leader of the organization. The employees normally take a cue from the leader and behave in the said manner. So leading by example is something that helps the employees. But there is a negative side to the situation. What happens in the event of change of leadership. The values despite being same would be changed due to alteration in the interpreation. Under the circumstances that would confuse people.
To avoid a situation the best pracitce is to come to a common consensus what a particular word or quality should mean to the organization and publish it in writing. Also given the fact that values change with the society, it is also a good idea to have a written back up so that in case the need for change arises people should know what is to be changed whats not.
My parting statement would be, Some Ambiguity is good, it makes you creative, but too much is bad it creates confusion and confused people never make focused employees.. Think about it..
I have seen organizations using verbiages that everybody uses, but everyone interprets it differently. My definition of honesty will always be different from other.. I normally suggest organization to come to a common understanding of the values and words they want to imbibe as a culture. However unfortunately i find it difficult for organizations to imbibe that concept. Just today I attended a staff meeting for an organization where lot of theory was being talked about. The people there were listening and trying to imbibe what was being said. Infact what i found particularly intriguing was that at the end of teh discussion people were sold in to the concept. They believed every word of what was being said. But i have been following this organization for the past 10 years. Somehow I have a feeling that though these words are spoken out loud in the organization, and all people believe in it as well but like I mentioned, they have there own interpretations of these words.
So the question arises if what I say is correct, why do people still behave similarly in an organization despite ambiguity of interpretation. The answer that I possibly think is that it is because of the leader of the organization. The employees normally take a cue from the leader and behave in the said manner. So leading by example is something that helps the employees. But there is a negative side to the situation. What happens in the event of change of leadership. The values despite being same would be changed due to alteration in the interpreation. Under the circumstances that would confuse people.
To avoid a situation the best pracitce is to come to a common consensus what a particular word or quality should mean to the organization and publish it in writing. Also given the fact that values change with the society, it is also a good idea to have a written back up so that in case the need for change arises people should know what is to be changed whats not.
My parting statement would be, Some Ambiguity is good, it makes you creative, but too much is bad it creates confusion and confused people never make focused employees.. Think about it..
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