change

There is always another way to see things
The colourful dress is a great metaphor for the need to remember that people see the world differently.
The colourful dress is a great metaphor for the need to remember that people see the world differently.

[Update: This post was written in 2015.]

I have known that things aren’t always the way you first see them since I was a child. My rainbow does not look the same as the rainbow that the vast majority of you see. I don’t see the explosion of red when bottlebrush is in season and I am just as likely to be wearing a purple tie thinking it is blue as I am a grey one thinking it is green.

I am colourblind.

For the most part, this colour uncertainty is something curious. The most serious consequences for me included not being able to choose being a pilot, a policeman or an electrical engineer as a career.

During a working bee I once spent half an hour looking for tins of green paint that turned out to be the very same tins of pink paint I had moved aside to commence my search. Other volunteers were dispatched to search for me, and when they arrived, they pointed to the cans that I had placed aside. The look on their face told me they couldn’t understand how I couldn’t see this.

Over the last two days I have found it fascinating to see how people have responded to the #thedress, the phenomenon of the photo of a dress that appears to be different colours depending on the viewer.

 The Dress, 2015 – Alanna MacIness and Caitlin McNeil

What has stood out is the degree that people are ready to become entrenched in their position that the dress either has to be white-gold, or blue-black.

This little internet storm highlights one of the biggest challenges to communication. Everyone who is sure the dress is one colour and not the other (just like the working bee paint rescuer) struggle to accept that there could be another way to see things.

This post from arts and culture site Hyperallergic on the philosophical roots of the reaction to #thedress explores the how these experiences of ‘otherness’ challenge our understanding of the world.

But the gift that I have been given by my other-sightedness is a daily sense that there may be another way. Over the past twenty years, my work as a communicator and change manager is to help leaders, project managers, employees consider that blue might be gold and white might be black.

There is always another way to see something.

It is such a great, simple metaphor for differences in perception. Craig Silverman at Poytner has written a wonderful piece on what the whole episode can teach journalists which I recommend to anyone involved in writing, communicating and change. As Silverman writes:

“The simple truth is our brains process information in ways that can lead us astray. This is something every journalist needs to be aware of and account for in the work we do.”

For the record, I have no opinion either way on the colour of the dress. There are some excellent explainers about the phenomenon from New Scientist and IFLScience.

Change is never a straight line.

Change is never a straight line

Change is never a straight line

This is a helpful mindset whatever the project you may be working on.

When to say no to Kotter-style change leadership

The Kotter model of change leadership is excellent for transformational change, but creates problems for communication in organisations when applied to mid-size change. In this extract from the recent webinar ‘The Art of Communication, the Business of Change‘ I explain why.

Audio courtesy of PRIA.

Communication isn’t just a step in a process

This is an excerpt from a post on 3 things to remember in LEAN and process communication published on LinkedIn Pulse.

Information is the content. Communication is how we make sense of the content.

Information is the content. Communication is how we make sense of the content.

1. Information is not the same thing as communication

Data about production metrics, safety instructions, operating standards: these are kinds of information. Information needs to be available at the right time to be useful to employees and managers.

However, there is a difference between making information available and communicating. Information is the content. Communication is the way we make sense of the content.

Communication is a human act. It is a two-way cycle. It involves listening. Communicating involves providing explanations about why something is important, and how it is relevant to the employee. Sending an instruction about safety on a poster or email is not the same as talking about why safety is important and listening to employee’s views and ideas.

Read the whole post on LinkedIn.