“What We’ve Got Here Is Failure to Communicate”
Communication is so important in conducting our lives on a daily basis. It’s an art form which takes years and years to master and one you’re really never able to truly master. Yet, today, communication seems to be so lacking. As the iconic character actor Strother Martin in his role as the Captain in the 1967 film, “Cool Hand Luke”, said to Paul Newman as Luke (a non-conformist), “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”.
I experience communication failure in some form or fashion each and every day. I bet it’s no surprise to you as I’m certain you experience communication failure in some form or fashion each and every day as well. In fact, I’ll surmise it was much easier “back in the day” to communicate with whom you wanted to communicate with and when you wanted to communicate with them seldom suffering from the “what we’ve got here is failure to communicate” malady. Oh, by the way, that was way before answering machines, cell phones, email, texting, and the many other nouveau technologies of today.
Yep, it was much easier to get a hold of someone where you actually spoke to a real person who was most likely able to satisfy your need “back in the day”. Today, companies do everything in their power to avoid having a real person speak with you. The wait times are so incredibly long that you hang up half the time. When you finally speak with a real person, they seldom, if ever, are successful in satisfying your need even after you ask to speak to a supervisor; that is, if you can even understand them from far off places like the Philippines or India. The saddest part about the whole situation is we let businesses get away with this as there’s no accountability.
The motto today is to ignore your objection and attempt to “sweep it under the rug” in the hopes you’ll just give up. We humans suffer from human frailties meaning the majority of us will just give up. There are four stages we go through when we are dealing with an unsatisfactory situation: 1) We initially “abhor” the situation, 2) We then over time “accept” the situation, 3) We begin to “justify” the situation, and 4) We finally “embrace” the situation.
Ultimately, we then just give up which is the worst thing we can do with that solving absolutely nothing. “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”! Please don’t take this the wrong way, but 85% of us are losers vs 15% are winners. Yes, 85% will say, “Oh, my, look at the hand life has dealt me” and accept it. While 15% of us will say, “I don’t like my hand, here are my three discards, deal me three more cards” to improve it. The point is to never give up as you must remain diligent and be persistent–I call this “sticktoitness”!
I’m not going to give you personal examples of my “sticktoitness” as we’ve all had similar experiences in attempting to rectify what has wronged us. But I will tell you not to take “no” as the final answer. Keep going “up the corporate ladder” even going as far as speaking to the CEO if necessary. I can almost guarantee someone will eventually say “yes” as long as you have “sticktoitness” and never, ever give up!
Two things most companies do to help rectify a situation are unacceptable to me. The first is they tell you they’re “sorry”. If you did what you were supposed to do from the beginning, and had properly communicated that to whoever was involved, you wouldn’t be offering an apology. Instead, I’d prefer the culprit to accept responsibility for their ineptness and provide me with a plan of action so it won’t ever happen again. The second is they will offer you a gift card of some sort. Please, all you’re doing is attempting to buy me off to satisfy me and, I’m sorry, I personally can’t be bought so don’t even try!
At Giant Food, we had an “Open Door” policy where you were able to discuss anything you wanted to in private with the ability of being heard without retribution. Open communication was important at Giant Food. While at Wal-Mart in the Supercenter Division we initiated a similar program and one additional program which we called the “Sundown Rule” where it was your responsibility to communicate with anyone who had reached out to you by sundown the same day. Open communication was important at Wal-Mart. When I entered the transportation industry at JL, we incorporated both the “Open Door” and “Sundown Rule” policies. Part of our training and orientation process discussed the three keys to never suffer a service deviation: 1) proper preplanning, 2) timely communication, and 3) excellent time management skills. Open communication was important at JL.
Certainly, at JL we taught our drivers the hard side basics of safe driving, toting luggage, and opening and closing doors, but over time as experience was gained through frequency and repetition, our drivers learned softer side skills where you anticipated a customer’s needs before any communication took place through empathy instead of via the spoken word.
Our Driving Team was the “brand” at JL and another form of communication, though unspoken as well, was expressed through our dress code which consisted of a black or charcoal gray suit, crisp ironed white shirt, conservative tie, black socks, and black dress shoes. Above this, hair was to be clean and conservatively cut, clean and cut fingernails, no visible piercings or tattoos, and any facial hair needed to be well- trimmed. In this business you needed to look professional and act professional in order to be professional.
While attending Washington-Lee High School (W-L), we had a strict dress code which we each adhered to as there was accountability for those who failed to follow it. At Vanderbilt, although I graduated fifty years ago, we also had a dress code requiring the males to wear a tie to class and the females a dress or dress slacks and blouse as the professors referred to us as Mister or Miss. I thought of this as a form of communication from “back in the day”.
It’s a shame our society is in such a state where so many people are having difficulty in finding and identifying themselves. Seemingly, standards and codes have all but disappeared and there’s just no accountability today. Personally, I’m ashamed of the appearance portrayed by the majority of folks today and the communication it sends. The dress of our students in high school and college is deplorable. Yes, please call me “old-fashioned”, but the unkept hair and varying hair colors, outlandish beards, piercings, and all of the tattoos everywhere along with the lack of clothing sends a communication which I find extremely disturbing. Sorry, but that’s just the way I see it! “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”.
Personally, I do my best to answer all phone calls made to me other than potential spam calls. If, for some reason, I’m not able to take a phone call, I will return a call that same day. I also will answer any emails the same day they are received. Yes, I’m now fully retired, but this was a practice I adopted years ago and continue to adhere to today. To me, it’s just not polite or courteous to “diss” someone.
It’s so unfortunate that seldom does anyone, for some unknown reason, take a phone call today, especially, with the ease technology has made it to do so. Nothing and I mean NOTHING is easy today.
Speaking of communication, how in the world can anyone trust the media. Why? Well, they edit everything that anyone says in order to twist it to their way of thinking. This practice is abominable! And now with the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), one can’t, and unfortunately, shouldn’t trust anyone or anything. Wow, what a world we’ve become and are forced to live in. Thank goodness our family lives at The Compound where we can divorce ourselves from our society which has gone so awry.
One thing I can trust, and it’s so true, is this bottom line–“what we’ve got here is failure to communicate”!!