Failing to Communicate
In 2005, the American Film Association voted on the most memorable movie lines ever produced. One of those lines from the 1967 movie, Cool Hand Luke, was "What we have here is a failure to communicate." This movie line resonated with people everywhere; the need to cultivate stronger communication skills is a common denominator for most all of us.Findings from the 1999 study, How Americans Communicate, revealed that the majority of people responding realized that ineffective communication could lead to serious problems. In a 2000 report about the importance of the communication discipline (as a field of study), it was noted that communication competence was related to school success, interpersonal satisfaction, social adjustment, self-concept, and workplace success, among other relationships.The inability to communicate is often blamed for all kinds of personal and relational problems. In a 1999 National Communication Association (NCA)study involving 1000 indivdiuals, 53% of the respondents identified poor communication as the most frequent cause for relational failures.Interestingly, the results of the NCA study (referred to above) also revealed that a strong majority of Americans believed they were fairly good communicators.Who is it then that might be creating all the communication problems that most of us can identify in just about every family or other organization we have experienced? Most people I know can almost immediately give me examples of dysfunctional communication they have observed in their families, relationships, and workplace.As a communication professional, a researcher, and a life-long student of the communication discipline, I am beginning to suspect that most of us have also contributed to dysfunctional communication dynamics. Without question, I know that I continue to say things I wish I hadn't said, fail to say what I should say, and wish I could have listened more effectively in order to really understand others and situations better. I trust I am not alone. While I am determined to continually grow as a communicator, I also consider myself a "recovering" dysfunctional communicator.