Connecting conversations across disciplines
I recently interviewed a serial tech-entrepreneur about conversational challenges between technical teams and what it takes to solve big problems when people care deeply and think very differently.
Our conversation highlighted something I’ve witnessed often:
Engineering teams break at the interface with other departments, like the product they are developing
When preparing to go to market, the point of failure is between cross-discipline teams
Communications and relationships matter as much as specifications and deadlines
Arlen, my engineering entrepreneur, values practicality and the original specs for a project. His partner, a surgeon, is learning all the time and adapting job specifications to data taken directly from patients. Many of their conversations follow a tell, sell, yell format. The bulk of their exchanges are decibels above a marching band. They are tenacious and vigilant about their relationship and their work, so they persist like siblings, eventually reaching understanding.
What would be different in their business if:
They could leverage scientifically proven language to exhibit partnership rather than power
They were able to explore hypotheses together
They relied on each other to ask brutally honest questions and to create an infinite mindset
Perhaps they would have a pipeline full of funders, sponsors and job applicants, wanting to grow with their company! Their Glassdoor.com reviews would look much better.
Employers can’t undo the grad student culture of competition and information-hoarding that was the breeding ground for many engineers. Employers can create a new culture and set standards using language and models that engage all of their employees.
By understanding the neuroscience of conversations, we are able to bypass our hardwired defensive strategies, and engage in more mutually beneficial communication; influencing the way we interpret reality and leading to extraordinary results. Conversational Intelligence® (C-IQ)is a data-driven communications methodology that provides an innovative framework for engaging intentionally in conversations to shape our partnerships, our culture, and our reality. C-IQ draws on the science of trust with others and lays out simple steps to move conversations forward from the primitive brain into the executive brain, where creativity and the ability to envision the future thrive.
In this Digital Age, the economy is networked, interdependent and global. In order to thrive, businesses require a workforce culture of connecting conversations and written communications that is as indelible as the global networks that support them.
