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 "LISTENING: MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EAR[1],"

                           By Les MacLeod, EdD, MPH, FACHE    

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."     

                                                                                                        -Stephen R. Covey

The lack of ability of just this one human skill is perhaps responsible for, at the least,

some 40% or more of engineered projects not meeting their requirements.

Of course, I may be wrong!

Cheers,

Bill

[1] Physician Leadership Journal, July/Aug, 2016

 "LISTENING: MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EAR[1],"

                           By Les MacLeod, EdD, MPH, FACHE    

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."     

                                                                                                        -Stephen R. Covey

The lack of ability of just this one human skill is perhaps responsible for, at the least,

some 40% or more of engineered projects not meeting their requirements.

Of course, I may be wrong!

Cheers,

Bill

[1] Physician Leadership Journal, July/Aug, 2016

Having studied improv theater in Chicago for a couple of years, I wholeheartedly recommended that every professional, not just engineers, make the effort to take some improv classes for this reason.  Yes, it looks great on a resume because it makes you stand out from the crowd - it's rare I get interviewed and am not asked about it, which leads me into this upcoming speech - and it helps you to develop your listening skills.  People think that improv is a form of comedy, but it's not.  It just often happens to be funny in practice.  But the skills you develop are all about listening to your scene partner and building off of what they said.

An example I like to give is to imagine you have conceived in your mind, the funniest joke known to mankind and you want to show it off in your improv scene.  The only setup is that the scene has to happen inside of a barbershop for you to be able to dazzle people with your wit and brilliance.  You start the scene up and go over to your partner, signaling to them that you want this to be inside of a barbershop, and say "Good morning Charlie, it'll be the usual for me, just take a little off of the sides."  And your partner says, "Not a problem, just bring the pigs around back and we'll get them carved up in no time."  And now, you're in a meat packing facility.  Your set up and your joke are ruined.  If you still try to stammer it out, it's not funny anymore and you look like the one who hasn't been paying attention and it is you who will ruin the scene.  Does it matter that you have the funniest joke ever?  No, what matters is that you take what your partner has given you and work off of that.  Someone who listens with the intent to understand the scene can play up the irony of treating the workings of a meat-packing facility with the mannerisms of a barbershop.  Someone who listens with the intent to respond either freezes in the moment because what they had intended to say no longer applies, or blurts something out that looks inappropriate to the audience, undermining their perceived credibility.

The same principle applies in engineering.  If you approach a meeting with the sole intent of telling people what your idea is, you're going to miss the context of everything else going on around you.  It may be the most brilliant design idea ever created, but if you're not working with the other people in the meeting to build on what's being presented, you're going to appear arrogant, out of touch, and selfish.  People want to engage with team players, people want to work with professionals who hear them out.

 "LISTENING: MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EAR[1],"

                           By Les MacLeod, EdD, MPH, FACHE    

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."     

                                                                                                        -Stephen R. Covey

The lack of ability of just this one human skill is perhaps responsible for, at the least,

some 40% or more of engineered projects not meeting their requirements.

Of course, I may be wrong!

Cheers,

Bill

[1] Physician Leadership Journal, July/Aug, 2016

That's an excellent example, Ms. Rollins. I read your assertion about improv with considerable skepticism, but you turned me completely around with the lesson it conveyed. Speaking without listening is dangerous. We must always be prepared to adjust our communication to meet our audience's needs.

Thanks for a most insightful post.

Bill Mc

------------------------------
William McAnally Ph.D., P.E., BC.CE, BC.NE, F.ASCE
ENGINEER
Columbus MS

Original Message:
Sent: 05-08-2024 10:35 AM
From: Vanessa Rollins
Subject: LISTENING: MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EAR

Having studied improv theater in Chicago for a couple of years, I wholeheartedly recommended that every professional, not just engineers, make the effort to take some improv classes for this reason.  Yes, it looks great on a resume because it makes you stand out from the crowd - it's rare I get interviewed and am not asked about it, which leads me into this upcoming speech - and it helps you to develop your listening skills.  People think that improv is a form of comedy, but it's not.  It just often happens to be funny in practice.  But the skills you develop are all about listening to your scene partner and building off of what they said.

An example I like to give is to imagine you have conceived in your mind, the funniest joke known to mankind and you want to show it off in your improv scene.  The only setup is that the scene has to happen inside of a barbershop for you to be able to dazzle people with your wit and brilliance.  You start the scene up and go over to your partner, signaling to them that you want this to be inside of a barbershop, and say "Good morning Charlie, it'll be the usual for me, just take a little off of the sides."  And your partner says, "Not a problem, just bring the pigs around back and we'll get them carved up in no time."  And now, you're in a meat packing facility.  Your set up and your joke are ruined.  If you still try to stammer it out, it's not funny anymore and you look like the one who hasn't been paying attention and it is you who will ruin the scene.  Does it matter that you have the funniest joke ever?  No, what matters is that you take what your partner has given you and work off of that.  Someone who listens with the intent to understand the scene can play up the irony of treating the workings of a meat-packing facility with the mannerisms of a barbershop.  Someone who listens with the intent to respond either freezes in the moment because what they had intended to say no longer applies, or blurts something out that looks inappropriate to the audience, undermining their perceived credibility.

The same principle applies in engineering.  If you approach a meeting with the sole intent of telling people what your idea is, you're going to miss the context of everything else going on around you.  It may be the most brilliant design idea ever created, but if you're not working with the other people in the meeting to build on what's being presented, you're going to appear arrogant, out of touch, and selfish.  People want to engage with team players, people want to work with professionals who hear them out.

 "LISTENING: MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EAR[1],"

                           By Les MacLeod, EdD, MPH, FACHE    

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."     

                                                                                                        -Stephen R. Covey

The lack of ability of just this one human skill is perhaps responsible for, at the least,

some 40% or more of engineered projects not meeting their requirements.

Of course, I may be wrong!

Cheers,

Bill

[1] Physician Leadership Journal, July/Aug, 2016

Having studied improv theater in Chicago for a couple of years, I wholeheartedly recommended that every professional, not just engineers, make the effort to take some improv classes for this reason.  Yes, it looks great on a resume because it makes you stand out from the crowd - it's rare I get interviewed and am not asked about it, which leads me into this upcoming speech - and it helps you to develop your listening skills.  People think that improv is a form of comedy, but it's not.  It just often happens to be funny in practice.  But the skills you develop are all about listening to your scene partner and building off of what they said.

An example I like to give is to imagine you have conceived in your mind, the funniest joke known to mankind and you want to show it off in your improv scene.  The only setup is that the scene has to happen inside of a barbershop for you to be able to dazzle people with your wit and brilliance.  You start the scene up and go over to your partner, signaling to them that you want this to be inside of a barbershop, and say "Good morning Charlie, it'll be the usual for me, just take a little off of the sides."  And your partner says, "Not a problem, just bring the pigs around back and we'll get them carved up in no time."  And now, you're in a meat packing facility.  Your set up and your joke are ruined.  If you still try to stammer it out, it's not funny anymore and you look like the one who hasn't been paying attention and it is you who will ruin the scene.  Does it matter that you have the funniest joke ever?  No, what matters is that you take what your partner has given you and work off of that.  Someone who listens with the intent to understand the scene can play up the irony of treating the workings of a meat-packing facility with the mannerisms of a barbershop.  Someone who listens with the intent to respond either freezes in the moment because what they had intended to say no longer applies, or blurts something out that looks inappropriate to the audience, undermining their perceived credibility.

The same principle applies in engineering.  If you approach a meeting with the sole intent of telling people what your idea is, you're going to miss the context of everything else going on around you.  It may be the most brilliant design idea ever created, but if you're not working with the other people in the meeting to build on what's being presented, you're going to appear arrogant, out of touch, and selfish.  People want to engage with team players, people want to work with professionals who hear them out.

 "LISTENING: MORE THAN WHAT MEETS THE EAR[1],"

                           By Les MacLeod, EdD, MPH, FACHE    

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."     

                                                                                                        -Stephen R. Covey

The lack of ability of just this one human skill is perhaps responsible for, at the least,

some 40% or more of engineered projects not meeting their requirements.

Of course, I may be wrong!

Cheers,

Bill

[1] Physician Leadership Journal, July/Aug, 2016