Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Communication
There is a post at a forum I frequent.
In it, the author basically says that where he once was an eloquent speaker, after 18 months of development work, he is now a gibbering nincompoop.
Like the author of the linked post, I blame development work. It takes a talent to communicate succinctly, be it in writing or in spoken words, technical details. We therefore end up with hurried slush piles of bad technical prose which every coder learns to skim. Got a technical question? Run a couple searches on Google, scan the results, load 3 or 4 good-seeming candidates up in the background, then quickly flip through them looking for the answer. Result: Bad written communications.
Like the author, I see it happening to my oral skills as well. I am losing my outward verbal communication skills and my inward listening skills. Where I used to try multiple times to get a point across, I now find myself getting frustrated and desperate after the first failed communication. Where I used to be able to listen, I find myself trying to "scan" the incoming voices. As I mentioned in my Podcast blog, this is just not possible. Result: Bad oral communications.
What course of therapy is an effective treatment for this ADHD of the mind? If I figure it out, I'll let you know. (Hopefully not in a tersely-worded communique, but in a well-crafted and exultant essay.)
In it, the author basically says that where he once was an eloquent speaker, after 18 months of development work, he is now a gibbering nincompoop.
Like the author of the linked post, I blame development work. It takes a talent to communicate succinctly, be it in writing or in spoken words, technical details. We therefore end up with hurried slush piles of bad technical prose which every coder learns to skim. Got a technical question? Run a couple searches on Google, scan the results, load 3 or 4 good-seeming candidates up in the background, then quickly flip through them looking for the answer. Result: Bad written communications.
Like the author, I see it happening to my oral skills as well. I am losing my outward verbal communication skills and my inward listening skills. Where I used to try multiple times to get a point across, I now find myself getting frustrated and desperate after the first failed communication. Where I used to be able to listen, I find myself trying to "scan" the incoming voices. As I mentioned in my Podcast blog, this is just not possible. Result: Bad oral communications.
What course of therapy is an effective treatment for this ADHD of the mind? If I figure it out, I'll let you know. (Hopefully not in a tersely-worded communique, but in a well-crafted and exultant essay.)
