The
book gives 4 components of listening as follows:
1. Sensing (Hearing the Message)
2. Interpreting the Message
3. Evaluating the Message content
4. Memory: Retaining and Responding the
Message
I
think interpreting the message can be more challenging in my listening skills
because I think a certain way and I try to interpret messages in the same
pattern which is influenced by the way I am brought up, my culture, my values
and so on. Especially in a diverse
society that we live in, it is important to understand people’s point of view
because everyone come from a different background and carry their own
assumptions. While in the course of
discussion, I interpret the person in front in a certain way. But most of the times after the interaction
is over when I think about the intentions and background of that person, I feel
he tried to say something totally different than what I thought he meant. So the more we allow our self to understand
others’ perspective by listening carefully the better or mutually beneficial
our interpretations of their messages can become.
I agree, interpreting the message is extremely challenging especially because of the diverse society in which we live here in Silicon Valley. As we learned in Chapter 5, “our values and systems of defining and understanding the external world are inculcated in us from the very beginning of our lives, when we begin to develop our basic assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices.” These ingrained stereotypes and assumptions can be helpful because they help us not have to always sort through things and spend untold time making decisions; however, they are not helpful when it comes to understanding people’s points of view, especially when they come from a completely different background.
ReplyDeleteWe can never really know what another person is thinking or meaning unless we practice active listening to make sure we understand. I, too, in the course of a discussion, tend to think I am right in my interpretation of what I think they mean, and then after the interaction I realize I might not have been mistaken.