Been a while since I wrote here. Without going into the excuses, because I have really have tons of them, here is the new thing I have learned a couple of months ago.
Apparently, the human mind can think at the rate of 500 words a minute. Which means you as a person can comprehend 500 words a minute. But the rate at which we speak is about 150 - especially my friends from the far far west. My friends from far far east probably speak much faster than that . (try listening to Ricky Ponting or Mark Taylor and you will know what I am talking about). Either way, lets assume that the average speed at which people normally speak is 150 words a minute. That leaves a gap of 350.
This my dear friends is called "highway 350" and we as humans have the tendency to ride this highway at every given possible instance. Why we do that, I have no idea.
So what?
Obviously, the hardest bit is to transfer our thinking from the highway to the slow 150 slip road. And as a consequence we get lost in thoughts and lose out on the words of the speaker. We tend to become poor listeners over a period of time. What's even more surprising is that it is not only when you are listening to somebody talk, it could also be when you are texting/chatting with some body. The suggestions seem to flow even before the problem is stated!!!
What next?
Over the last couple of months, I have been noticing this phenomenon and have noticed even people who are in the profession of listening falling short. The problem is that we tend to generalize and make judgments way too early and it takes some effort to stop ourselves from generalizing and jumping to conclusions.
Believe me or not, I really think I have managed to build a better professional relationship just by being open and by putting in the effort to contain my thoughts and holding my thoughts for a brief while... by being "in the zone" and listening intently. And all I had to do was listen intently, summarize the conversation and re-focus on the needs of my colleague.
Of course, it takes effort and it doesn't come easily. I have managed to repeat it a couple of times since the first experience, but failed quite a few times. I cannot summon the calmness in my mind always, but it is definitely more frequent and much better than before. The challenge ahead for me is to maintain that state of mind and stop myself from joining... the accident prone highway 350!
Apparently, the human mind can think at the rate of 500 words a minute. Which means you as a person can comprehend 500 words a minute. But the rate at which we speak is about 150 - especially my friends from the far far west. My friends from far far east probably speak much faster than that . (try listening to Ricky Ponting or Mark Taylor and you will know what I am talking about). Either way, lets assume that the average speed at which people normally speak is 150 words a minute. That leaves a gap of 350.
This my dear friends is called "highway 350" and we as humans have the tendency to ride this highway at every given possible instance. Why we do that, I have no idea.
So what?
Obviously, the hardest bit is to transfer our thinking from the highway to the slow 150 slip road. And as a consequence we get lost in thoughts and lose out on the words of the speaker. We tend to become poor listeners over a period of time. What's even more surprising is that it is not only when you are listening to somebody talk, it could also be when you are texting/chatting with some body. The suggestions seem to flow even before the problem is stated!!!
What next?
Over the last couple of months, I have been noticing this phenomenon and have noticed even people who are in the profession of listening falling short. The problem is that we tend to generalize and make judgments way too early and it takes some effort to stop ourselves from generalizing and jumping to conclusions.
Believe me or not, I really think I have managed to build a better professional relationship just by being open and by putting in the effort to contain my thoughts and holding my thoughts for a brief while... by being "in the zone" and listening intently. And all I had to do was listen intently, summarize the conversation and re-focus on the needs of my colleague.
Of course, it takes effort and it doesn't come easily. I have managed to repeat it a couple of times since the first experience, but failed quite a few times. I cannot summon the calmness in my mind always, but it is definitely more frequent and much better than before. The challenge ahead for me is to maintain that state of mind and stop myself from joining... the accident prone highway 350!
