{"id":2328,"date":"2014-03-06T09:10:41","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T01:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shirleytaylor.com\/blog\/?p=2328"},"modified":"2014-03-06T09:10:41","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T01:10:41","slug":"assumptions-during-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shirleytaylor.com\/blog\/assumptions-during-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Assumptions During Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(You know what they say about 'assume'!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visualise it: you're in a meeting, discussing the budget for the Security Division. You begin to state your idea regarding an issue with cyber security, \"The biggest problem I see is\u2026\" and suddenly the gentleman down the table interrupts, \"Yes! The biggest problem is the way the pens and pencils in the storeroom keep disappearing. Exactly!\" You stop and frown. Everyone looks perplexed. What do pens and pencils have to do with cyber security?<\/p>\n

The co-worker who interrupted you made a common mistake in communication \u2013 he made an assumption. In fact, he made several assumptions. He assumed your statement was about security in general as opposed to cyber security. He also assumed that he knew what your statement was going to focus on. Finally, he assumed that you and he agreed about the problem.<\/p>\n