Tag: communication

Ruby Ridge: Part 1, Communication

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These are ideas about communication after listening to The American Scandal Podcast about Ruby Ridge.

Trust and information make up communication. 

Trust is the combination of quality and time. Quality is the depth of common experiences. Time is the lengths of common experiences. Relationships with frequent and deep experiences are strongest. 

Information is idiosyncratic. People overlap in their understandings – to some extent. It’s difficult to convey “information” about black swans to someone who has only seen white swans. 

Obstacles to communication. 

  1. Time: quantity is its own quality. 
  2. Quality: be vulnerable, deflate the ego, collaborate, be meaningful. 
  3. Information: everyone is a Bayesian, but we all have different priors, observations, and probabilities. 

Communication enablers. 

  1. Speed: slow down and increase time, allow quality, and refine information. 
  2. Gather their information: what assumptions have they made? 
  3. Walk in their shoes: what direction does this information lead? 

“Consumer profile” is a business-speak analogy. The less overlap with the groups communicating the more energy has to be put in the system. 

Texts from School

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My daughter’s high school (where I teach) has a new software program this year called Parent Square. It’s an app/service that allows school messages to be delivered more consistently, more immediately, and (unfortunately) more often.

During our training meeting where the administration sung the app’s praises I couldn’t help but think like an economist: oh this is too easy.

We all want to be informed parents. Or do we? Do parents want to know everything going on their children’s lives?

Regardless of if we want it (I don’t think we should) – we can’t!

Around the same time as my frustration with so many notifications, Kris Abdelmessih was asked about how to be a trader. He gives helpful advice. He’s a great writer, a good dad, super smart, and kind online. But part of kindness is honesty, he wrote:

“It’s gonna sound maybe harsh, but I tend to think that if you’re gonna figure it out, you just kind of are. You’re gonna find what to read; you’re gonna find the right things. And it’s like, if you’re unable to do that meta work, you’re just not cut out for it.”

Don’t bring information to a design fight. Want to change behaviors? Make it easier to people to take actions. Want to not change behaviors? Give people (more) information about the world. The ones who want it will get it.