Promoting a Shared Goal

There are so many ways that people are "funny." I do no mean in the "ha-ha" sense, but rather in the odd or peculiar way. For instance, it has long been established that we humans are social creatures. We need regular interaction with others for reasons ranging from validation and security to companionship and information. Therefore, given that need, it would seem a safe assumption that working or collaborating with others is something we do well. Of course, it goes without saying that that is not the case. Mankind has a far too well documented history of interactions gone wrong. This not only applies to large populations but individual co-mingling as well.

Author Robert M. Sapolsky in his wonderful best seller "Behave: the Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst" (2017) notes that not even getting to know each other well guarantees people will get along more effectively. Instead, he wrote, interactions work best when there is a shared goal within a group. A shared goal creates a stronger "combined us" that serves as a kind of unifying element for members of a group. It decreases preconceptions and prejudices and provides group members with a point with which to rally around. Based on Sapolsky's research, studies have shown that the benefits of a shared goal remain in-tact despite group differences in race, sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity.

As this applies to communication, it seems critical that whatever a group's goal might be, it must be communicated properly and effectively to all members. The members need to know what the goal is, need to understand it, need to recognize how it applies to them, and ways in which it might be achieved. None of these, mind you, are small things. Effective and well-planned communication can address these matters. Further, it can not only bring together folks but also keep them in the same room and operating from the same play book.