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Communication usually fails, except by accident

23 April 2008 in Human Nature, Language by Stilgherrian | 3 comments

Every time I read 37signals’ blog, I find something of value. Today they tell me about a Finnish researcher in human communication, Osmo Wiio, and his Murphy-like laws of communication.

  • If communication can fail, it will.
  • If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the most harm.
  • There is always somebody who knows better than you what you meant by your message.
  • The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.

After that, you may want to read more about Osmo Wiio.

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  1. Tim’s avatar

    Tim on 23 April 2008 at 6:09 pm

    I didn’t understand that
    I take it from this that this guy is a serial killer?
    I don’t think that guy really understood what he was talking about
    Um, haven’t really got anything for the last one….

    Reply

  2. Stilgherrian’s avatar

    Stilgherrian on 24 April 2008 at 9:45 am

    @Tim: Maybe you’d have succeeded with the last one if there’d been only three Laws? ;)

    Actually, on a serious note, I can relate to the last one from a business perspective. If I send a client “everything they need”, they read none of it anyway. So I’m only wasting my time.

    Reply

  3. Cait’s avatar

    Cait on 25 April 2008 at 9:46 pm

    I agree with all four, with one caveat. The more important/urgent the information is, the harder/longer it will be to get through to people.

    Reply