Imagine that you hear an unknown young woman say, “I lost my bow.” You don’t have the advantage of reading her words to see the spelling of that which she has lost, so you guess.

Did her boyfriend leave her? Is her Christmas wrapping incomplete? We really can’t tell for sure.

We do a lot of guessing in life, more than is necessary.

My late mentor, Dr. Dave Dobson called guessing, “Hallucinating.”

We hallucinate what we think another means when we don’t check. Reminds me of a story my friend, Paul tells . . .

He played in a band with his radio station boss. They had a gig one Friday night and planned to meet at a certain spot so they could all travel together in one vehicle. The boss said, “Meet me at Denny’s.” Well, there was a place they went for doughnuts called “Denny’s Donuts” and then there was “Denny’s Diner” where they ate after performances. They both went to different Denny’s.

As I wrote in my free ebook, THE SUCCESS TRIANGLE:

Revisionist historians tell a fabulous story about the massacre Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote about in his poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” In this poem, we read about 600 soldiers riding into the valley of death. This death ride took place during the Crimean War. The historians tell us a messenger approached the commanding officer of the 600 and delivered this message, “Advance to the front.” The officer dutifully lead his troops to the front, and they were all killed.

Lord Tennyson’s poem recorded the blunders of the Battle of Balaklava (October 25, 1854) for future generations. This officer was guilty of mind reading, falling victim to fluff (imprecise communication), and then to the enemy. There happened to be three fronts. He never took the time to ask the messenger, “Which specific front?” He knew there were three fronts. The officer owed it to himself and to his men to break down the word “Front.” He mind read that he knew where to advance and paid with his and their lives. Let’s remember the messenger was also a less than efficient communicator.

You can do less guessing in the New Year and reap the benefits. It begins by not assuming you know what another means. If you are not sure, ask. Reminds me of another story . . .

I used to work with a radio general manager who always told the clients they would get “a ton” of free promos if they signed an advertising contract. I never remember an advertiser asking him, “What specifically do you mean by a ton?” or “What does a ton of promos translate into in real numbers?”

You will miscommunicate more often than not when you guess.

Take some of the guesswork out of the New Year and be more specific. It could be the difference between dollars and doughnuts.

All the best,

John

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