Apparently, some body of research conducted - surprise, surprise - research on conversations and came to the conclusion that 43% of the conversations we have are meaningless. Not sure if that means the conversations themselves are meaningless or they are ultimately meaningless because we don't do anything (take action, change behaviour etc) after we have had a meaningful conversation. ;-)
Incidentally, this morning, I wrote something on conversations for my official blog. Thought I'd reproduce it here for some, well, meaningful conversations on the topic of conversations. :-)
So, here are some random thoughts (on the remaining 57% of the conversations we have):
- Sometimes, you need to have a conversation to know what's on your own mind
- A real conversation is one which involves a genuine effort to understand the other person's perspectives and share your own insights and experiences
- A conversation is, arguably, not one where you start off with an inflexible and pre-determined objective to get the other person to toe your line or do something. This may prevent you from identifying the 'actual' objectives, challenges, concerns, solutions etc. Though you may have to state the objective of your conversation at times, you must be prepared to see it undergoing changes...
- Unless we are talking about extremely focused people, a conversation that gets the best out of both the parties having it is one wherein both are approachable, understanding, patient and aware of multiple perspectives
- Sometimes, a conversation involves compromising on something a la a tough negotiation
- A controlled conversation (largely led and guided in a particular direction by perhaps one of the parties) is necessary during certain situations but may not always lead to great consequences. A free-flowing conversation that is allowed to chart its own path may lead to more serendipitous discoveries and get the best out of the participants
- A real conversation is one which involves a genuine effort to understand the other person's perspectives and share your own insights and experiences
- A conversation is, arguably, not one where you start off with an inflexible and pre-determined objective to get the other person to toe your line or do something. This may prevent you from identifying the 'actual' objectives, challenges, concerns, solutions etc. Though you may have to state the objective of your conversation at times, you must be prepared to see it undergoing changes...
- Unless we are talking about extremely focused people, a conversation that gets the best out of both the parties having it is one wherein both are approachable, understanding, patient and aware of multiple perspectives
- Sometimes, a conversation involves compromising on something a la a tough negotiation
- A controlled conversation (largely led and guided in a particular direction by perhaps one of the parties) is necessary during certain situations but may not always lead to great consequences. A free-flowing conversation that is allowed to chart its own path may lead to more serendipitous discoveries and get the best out of the participants
Caveat: However, there is a likelihood of one of the parties completely hijacking the conversation if the other person involved displays an open mind, seems vulnerable and fails to be assertive. Tch.
What?
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