What if I told you that you could dramatically increase the quality of your environment simply by your choice of words? It’s true: our words shape our beliefs, which inform our behaviors. The words and phrases we use significantly influence the decisions we make and the actions we take.
To see how easy it is to change our behavior simply by changing the language we use, try this quick exercise. Think of an upcoming social engagement or event about which you feel ambivalent. Now jot down all the reasons why your going would be a really bad idea. Your list is likely to cause you to decline the invitation immediately! Before you do that though, write down all the reasons why you would love to attend. Without a doubt, that list will make you wonder why you ever considered skipping the event!
The way we talk to ourselves and others creates our reality. This means that we get to choose how we experience the situations with which we are faced. Do we want to go down a life-affirming path, or an energy-draining path? Our behavior will follow the images we envision based on the words we select and the questions we ask. Each of us has total control over our language, and thus how we experience our environments at any given time. In addition, we can influence the quality of others’ environments simply through how we frame our questions to them. That is, our questions will lead others to seek the answers in either positive or negative directions.
For example, consider a situation in which managers want to raise the organization’s customer service level from competitive to distinctive. Which set of questions below contains language that is likely to create a motivating learning environment that will encourage employees to hear the lesson and become part of the solution?
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- What complaints have you heard from our customers this week?
- What did we do wrong in serving our customers this week?
OR
- What is the most inspiring compliment you heard our customers pay us this week?
- In what ways did we delight our customers this week?
In this case, two different choices of language result in totally dissimilar answers, and thus in vastly divergent learning environments.
Here are examples of five common scenarios in which the language chosen prompts totally different responses:
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Dealing with an irate customer:
“We can’t do that” vs. “Here’s what we can do”
Persuading a decision-maker to adopt a program:
“Here’s how much the program will cost” vs. “Here’s the return on our investment”
Allocating scarce resources:
“What services should we cut?” vs. “What value can we offer our customers?”
Improving performance:
“What are our weaknesses?” vs. “How can we leverage our strengths?”
Optimizing business results:
“What obstacles does this challenge create?” vs. “What opportunities does it present?”
What are some of the ways in which you have improved the quality of your environment by choosing your words carefully? Let us know!
© 2010 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.
Thank you! I would be interested in knowing what it is about the post that caught your attention.