Leavens, D and Hopkins, W D (2004) What is intentional communication and how do you measure it? In: 20th congress of the International Primatology Society, August 2004, Torino, Italy. Show AbstractIntentional communication (IC) is the display of communicative signals that are sensitive to the state of the receiver. Drawing from research into the communication of human infants, IC can be operationalized in accordance with several objective criteria for assessment. First, it is exhibited socially, an audience is required. Second, the signaler adjusts communication in accordance with the behavioral correlates of attention in the receiver. Third, when communication is about an entity or event that is spatially removed from both signaler and receiver, it is exhibited with gaze alternation between this distant entity and the receiver. Another way of stating this is that the visual orienting behavior of the signaler is under the stimulus control of both receiver location and the location of the distant entity. Fourth, if the putative goal of the communicative act is not achieved, the signaler will persist in communicating. Fifth, if initial signals fail to achieve the putative goal, the signaler will elaborate its communication. We present data from several studies of manual gestures in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) that demonstrates all five of these objective criteria for measuring IC. In human development, IC is of interest because there is a robust, widely replicated developmental transition at or near 12 months of age, in which babies begin to 'take charge' of communicative interactions, for example, through pointing. The evidence therefore suggests that these abilities to engage in joint attention are shared among humans and apes (and perhaps monkeys, as well), with relatively deep phylogenetic roots. Intentional communication is using verbal language for a purpose. Children begin to use intentional communication when they are motivated. Importantly, children need to experience the gratification of cause and effect when they communicate.For example, babies learn that when they coo or babble, their parents will respond with high pitched speech and maybe even a tickle. :) For a toddler, verbalizing “ba” and then a parent/caregiver giving the child a ‘ball’ while saying “ball” will teach them that when they say “ba” they get a “ball”. Cool! The Intentional Workplace blog began with this post. What could be more basic than to understand the nature of communication? But more important, how we communicate and why. The message was simple but seems to grow more important every day – everything comes down to how we communicate. All the things that we want and need start with a thought process that is communicated to others. Most of us do it on auto-pilot. Often that limits or derails the results we want to get. It can also leave hard feelings and unclear signals about who we are, what we want and how we really feel. There’s a great quote by author Stephen Covey that captures the feeling content of most communication, “We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.” That’s often true but it usually happens at the back-end of communication. What’s more common is that we find ourselves in the midst of a communication and have no awareness of what our intentions are. Distractions, lack of focus, acting from limited emotional awareness (of self and others) and emotional self-protection, the quest for clean, clear, honest communication eludes even those most dedicated to it. People seek out our services, often looking for shortcuts to easier and more “fool-proof” communication formulas. The hard truth is that becoming more intentional in our communication with others is a 24/7 commitment. There is always something to learn and self-correct. The data is endless. Let’s face it, most of the communication that takes place in and around work is far from being intentional. Much of it is off the cuff, abbreviated, lazy, habituated and based on unexamined personal expectations and assumptions. A great deal of the communication that happens around work is ineffective. And most people would agree that we need effective communication to work optimally. So – why don’t we experience more effective or intentional communication in the workplace? First, let’s get back to exploring what makes communication intentional. We define intentional as something done with intention or on purpose. It is communication that we are consciously aware of. It implies that we are speaking with awareness of our purpose AND it’s effects on others. (Some of you are probably thinking – well that is obvious, isn’t it?) We’ll step out on a limb and say – while it may be obvious – conscious communication is pretty rare – especially in the pressure-laden environment of work. Imagine you are at work (juggling thoughts, feelings and actions, which most of us are not consciously aware of in the moment) the phone rings and it is (Tom). You have expected some information from him that you need to finish a report. Given a situation like this – how do you communicate? “I can’t believe this is happening.” If this is an example of your internal dialogue, these thoughts, unchecked, will determine how you will respond. Without an immediate internal adjustment, it is likely that you will say something you will regret later. And if your words don’t betray you, your body language will tell some truth about what is really on your mind. After all, we cannot NOT communicate. Everything we say, do and don’t do – communicates. The plain fact is that internal scripts are always going through our minds. They drive our feelings and consequently, our communication. Problem is they run on auto-pilot. Often we let our internal dialogues masquerade as our spontaneous thoughts. Too bad we can’t hit the delete button for the old, unwanted files in our heads! Unless we bring our awareness to those thoughts we run the risk of sloppy, unintended communication. Another result is that we really can’t be fully present in any communication if our minds are running old software and the next to-do list. We can come across to others as poor listeners, uninterested and inauthentic. We may not believe that our lack of real presence is registering with others (after all aren’t they running their own internal narratives?) but people will often have a surprising list of the great, good and lousy communicators they deal with when asked. Which list are you on with your colleagues? More important, which list do you WANT to be on? The “Basics” of Intentional Communication:
In many ways, skillful communicating is simple, but far from easy. It takes a lot of conscious control to break crusty old habits. Often our emotions (which have been habituated as well) don’t easily bend to our new intentions. It is often much more comfortable to slide back into the old behaviors. Most of us were not given the tools of good communication. We learned through the conditioning of our role models. How good were they? Intentional communication is an art form. It starts with thought and is grown to habit through practice. That’s the hard part.
Thanks for reading! Louise Altman, Intentional Communication Consultants Join our mailing list for our occasional news Related posts October 20, 2022 Living with Permanent UncertaintyRead more December 20, 2021 Silence & A Blessing for One Who is ExhaustedRead more August 1, 2021 Beyond Anger Management – You and Your AngerRead more 1 Comment
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