“You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.” – Paulo Coelho
If you’ve ever had to teach a young kid how to cross the road safely, you’ll know about the associated trial and tribulations. It can feel like you are a permanent broken record, and minimal progress seems to be made over a long period of time.
I decided to change tack recently, and got my 7 year old to teach his 5 year old brother what to do. It changed everything – he seemed to have heard a whole new set of instructions and proceeded to do, and teach, everything perfectly.
When you get used to hearing a message from the same source, it can begin to delete or dilute the impact. We are always unconsciously deleting, distorting or generalising information that comes into our mind as part of our filtering process – something that needs to be kept in mind if you are trying to get a message across.
- What messages are you unintentionally diluting at work?
- Are people taking notice of what you’re saying? How would you know?
- What message could be driven home more powerfully if it came from another source?
- Who are you not utilising or involving in terms of promoting or delivering a message?
When a message is delivered in an unexpected way we are more likely to take notice.
How could you deliver your next key message differently to ensure people really sit up and listen, and that it gains momentum and genuine support?