Not Like Riding a Bike

Here in late April, in Songdo, South Korea, the weather is absolutely gorgeous. It is bright, sunny yet not too hot. Perfect weather for bike riding. And this is what several of us did recently. Interestingly, one of the members of our group had not been on a bike in nearly 35 years. Despite that long absence, he was a real trooper and proved the old adage about bike riding: once you learn you never forget. I, at least, was impressed. Watching him navigate an array of turns, hills, dips and occasional traffic, I could not help but compare it to effective communication.  While the two are similar, there are also striking differences.

For any interaction between individuals or publics to be effective, there are fundamental elements that must exist. They include composing messages that are clear and easy to understand, framing communiques that are relevance to the listener, being a good listener, and providing adequate feedback. In addition, such an exchange, ideally, should be carried out with respect and a desire on both the part of the sender and receiver to succeed. Without over generalizing, I believe most folks recognize the necessity of these elements. Of course, while it one thing to recognize this, often it is another to actually incorporate them into everyone exchange one has.

Every interaction is different. This is due to the reality that each of us, from moment to moment, changes as does the environment in which our interactions occur. Granted, the changes are often very slight. Nonetheless, they are also real and affect each of our encounters in positive and sometimes negative ways. As a result, each of us must be nimble in our various encounters to account for changes in our own moods and perspectives, for instance, along with differences in those with whom we interact. Thus, communication is different from riding a bike simply because the nature of people requires our coming up with different ways to pedal.