I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Hanlon’s Razor. This adage states that one should never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. I would re-frame stupidity to be ignorance that results in poor communication. Indeed, most people, when kept in the dark about an issue that may affect them, tend to attribute nefarious intentions to the poor communicator. But I’ve found that rarely are the motives iniquitous. Rather, it is far more common for the communicator to simply not realize their messaging may be poor, their plans not communicated effectively, their intentions not transparent.
This is important in many fields of human endeavor, including IT. Followup communication on incidents and service requests frequently fall victim to time poverty on both sides, confusing written (i.e., email) responses, and technical jargon. While IT strives to improve in this area, I’m perturbed that sometimes it seems as if we make little headway to make our communication better and more transparent. It is a never-ending battle.
Happily, good communication and transparency can be taught – they are skills one may learn. Recognition of the psychological issues are the first step. Assessment, process, and practice are the methods to improve them.
So, the next time you’re in a poor communication situation, don’t assume the worst. Consider that the other may simply not realize that the message is unclear or has been lost.
Misunderstandings and lethargy perhaps produce more wrong in the world than deceit and malice do. At least the latter two are certainly rarer.
Goethe. J. W. (1774). The sorrows of young werther (as translated).