The Communication Crisis in Corporate America

by PRICE PRITCHETT
The eleventh most famous movie quote of all time comes from
the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. In that scene, the prison warden
clobbers prisoner Luke (Paul Newman) with a billy club and sends
Like cool hand Luke, most companies are being severely punished. But
him tumbling into a ditch. The warden then looks across at the because their communication troubles developed insidiously over the past
rest of the chain gang, pauses, and in a strained voice says, twenty years, top management doesnt grasp the scale of the problem.
In executives defense, the symptoms of this breakdown are subtle and
indirect, because communication problems never remain just communication
problems. In this case, the real damage shows up operationally.

What we have Companies are getting beat upclobberedby messaging failures that
confuse priorities, interfere with alignment, and muddy the brand. Weak and
here is failure to clumsy communications also waste time, causing pervasive slippages in
communicate. productivity. People cant even be held properly accountable because of
the problems that permeate the overall communication process.
This messaging breakdown is more or less invisible. But it seriously
interferes with strategy execution and carries an outrageous hidden cost.
So whats causing the

Corporate America has a similar problem

its losing the battle for peoples attention.
Signal vs. Noise
Today everyone is overdosed with information. Thats a major reason why
its so hard to communicate effectivelywhy organizations struggle to
get through to their people.
Generally speaking, 95% of the information were exposed to these days
is simply noise. Its basically clutter. At the most, only 5% is signal. That
huge imbalance gets to the heart of this massive problem.
SIGNAL
Think of it this waysignal is an information carrier. Signal is what matters.
Signal is what youre paying for.
Noise is an unwanted effect on signals. Noise is the problem. Noise is
excessit adds no real value.
But modern technology makes it ridiculously easy for everyone to add to
the information flow, so the noise level keeps rising. Signalsthe core
messages that honestly count for somethingget lost in the flood of data
that surrounds us. People cant figure out what deserves their attention
and what they can disregard, so signals fade into the blur.
People also have little patience for poorly crafted messages that bore,
ramble too long, or have no visual appeal. When signals lack clarity, or
when theyre weak and too dull to hold our attention, they dont work. In
fact, they too simply become part of the communication pollution.

But theres more to the problem.

Getting Satisfaction from Distraction Follow the Eyeballs
Lets personalize this. Consider for a moment how you deal with all of todays Communication is most effective when it shows up where people want it.
noise. How are you handling the intense, ongoing fight for your attention? And when they want it. This argues for aiming your messages toward mobile
e.g., toward smartphones and other small portable devices.
Most people have become their own worst interrupters. Were constantly
seduced by the smartphones, computers, and other devices that tug at our Today we carry our #1 communication tool in our pocket or purse. Were
attention. The incessant beeps, rings, vibrations, and flashing images pull us on the go, and we want our messaging to travel with us.
away from the task at hand, breaking our train of thought. We sacrifice con- Mobile is the only media time thats in a growth
centration as we monitor the relentless incoming electronic nudges, yet we mode. Viewing time that people allot to tel-
have patience only for glanceable content. Our attention can be snagged for evision, online, radio, and print keeps
a moment, but its extremely difficult to hold it. dropping, while we spend an increasing
chunk of the day eyeing our handheld
Research indicates that most peoples attention span has shrunk dramatically
tools. In fact, mobile Internet use was on
over the last two decades. Some say the average attention span now lasts a
track to exceed traditional desktop In-
mere five to eight seconds. ternet use in 2014.
Brain studies also show that, like addicts, we actually get hooked on a chem-
ical called dopamine that pulses through our synapses as messages ping us.
Dopamine juices up a persons seeking behavior, fueling the search for infor-
mation and triggering a sense of anticipation for the next message. In fact, people These trends will continue, and companies
literally can suffer withdrawal effects when theyre cut off from their devices. need to rebuild their communication strategies accordingly.
The point here is that these habits exist. Theyre real. The world has changed, Mobile use will accelerate because it offers convenience via immediacy and
people have changed, and this means organizations must change their com- simplicity. But have no doubtmobile will choke unless companies
munication strategies. Were well into the 21st century now, and a 20th century redesign their information traffic.
messaging style no longer works.
Small Devices Deserve Small Messaging The Magic of Minimum Effective Dose
Fact: Your work force wont tolerate conventional messaging practices on Minimum effective dose (MED) should become the guiding principle in
mobile. Theyll simply tune out. reshaping companies communication strategies. Its a game-changing concept.
The prevailing corporate communication style is bloated, meandering, mind-
numbing, andwell, noisy. Theres too much babble and business jargon.
It lacks clarity. It fails to capture attention, much less hold it. Its also too for-
gettable.
[ MED is defined as the smallest dose that will produce a desired out-
come. MED not only delivers the most dramatic results, but it does
so in the least time possible. Anything beyond the MED is wasteful. ]
Go ahead. Take a hard look at your com-
Author Tim Ferris explains the idea in his book, The 4-Hour Body, pointing
panys emails, training, website, slide decks,
out that 212 F is basically the target temperature (or MED) if you want to
manuals, speeches and such. Youll find a lot
boil water. You can waste time and gas going hotter, but boiled is boiled. An-
of infovomitlengthy, complex, vague, and
other example: Want to become fluent in conversational Spanish? The MED
boring content with unnecessary detail. Youll
is to develop an active vocabulary of some 2,500 high-frequency words.
see a lack of focusoverdependence on infovomit Thats only 2.5% of the 100,000 words in the Spanish language, but with that
wordsshortage of visual imagery. /infovmet/ youll comprehend over 95% of all conversation.
That must change. Or the punishment for noun Of course, doctors and pharmacists rely on the MED principle as a standard
failure to communicate will get worse. for medical effectiveness, economy, and safety. Prescribe too small a dose and
lengthy, complex, vague,
Its time to reorient all messaging toward and boring content with the treatment fails, prescribe more than needed and the patient might die.
simplicity. Not in a dumbed-down manner, unnecessary detail.
In the realm of communications, exceeding the MED means adding
but minimalistic in style, using constraints in noise and weakening the signal. Go beyond the MED and you increase
a positive way to focus and strengthen the the risk of message failure.
content.
MED focuses on what counts most. It sets limits, clarifies, and simplifies. We
begin to think in terms of subtractione.g., whats expendable, unnecessary,
even problematic. As Steve Jobs put it, Focusing is about saying no. Mes-
sages actually gain power when we say no to the noise, when theyre com-
pressed and distilled to their core essence.
So whats the simplest, quickest, most efficient way to communicate an idea?
Go Visual or Go Home
People think using pictures. And, in fact, it is said that we mentally process
visuals 60,000 times faster than text.
But organizations still rely primarily on dry written words in communicating
to the work force. Heres why that needs to change:

Words are decoded in a linear, sequential fashion. Image elements,

on the other hand, are deciphered simultaneously. Our genetic
wiring favors visual messaging.
Words are processed by our short term memory where retention is
very limited. But images go directly into long term memory where
they stick.
Visual messaging affects us emotionally. That makes it far more
persuasive than mere words.
Todays shrinking attention span allows very little time to make a
point. Since people are too impatient to indulge wordiness, our
communication tool of choice should be pictures or graphics.

Look at advertisements. They rely most heavily on the visual element to

Cave Paintings, Lascaux, France (ca. 15,000 B.C.)
convey their messages.
Look at Facebook. Pinterest. YouTube. Pictures are their dominant vehicle of
information. Even modern textbooks have shifted from a majority of text to The brain is wired in favor of images . . .
a majority of graphics.
Finally, look at your audience. Everyone carries a cameraeven three-year-
olds have become photographers and movie producers. We all want visual.
And the truth is that a powerful photo or 60 seconds of well-crafted video
can say more that people will remember than could five pages of print. If you want to capture attention in this noisy worldif you want to sell
your ideas if you want people to remember your message then
by all means go visual. Or give up and go home.
Simple Is Hard Information Gains Value as You Reduce Noise
Granted, theres a lot of work involved in finding compelling images and distilling the
message down to minimum effective dose. Nevertheless, the person crafting a piece of

No
communication should do the heavy lifting, leaving precious little work for recipients.

ise
Complex messaging is not a sign of intelligence, sophistication, or expertise, but rather
proof that the job isnt finished. Above all, communications should be easy to under-
Noise
stand. As Einstein said, Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not Level
simpler.

Follow these guidelines to amplify signal and eliminate noise:

1 Dont think in terms of trimming out a few words here and there. Most com-
panies need a slash-and-burn approach, with major deletions that tighten
ROI
messages and improve clarity.
O
2 Make the point in a heartbeat. You probably have only a few seconds before
attention drifts.
Return on Information (ROI)

3 Go for a stylistic shift, shaping communications to capture and hold peoples

attention. Fight distraction and enhance retention by using visual imagery,
sound, motion/video, and story.

4 Surprise. Entertain. Make it unique and engaging. Youre facing stiff com-
petition for peoples eyeballs. The Payoff
The idea is to communicate with MED and bring high production value to your
5 Design counts! Dont scrimp on this. Presentation and packaging can make
all the difference. messaging. Sure, its harder and it might seem expensive. But the investment
is a true bargain when compared to the punishments for failure to communi-
cate.
Heres the promise: Transform your communications, and you can
transform the organization.
 Author Selfie Photo
Price Pritchett, Ph.D., is founder and CEO of PRITCHETT, LP, a Dallas consult-
ing firm specializing in merger integration, culture, communication, and change.
With over 20 million of his books in print worldwide, he is one of the best-selling
business authors in the world. Virtually all of the Fortune 500 companies have
used some combination of PRITCHETTs consulting, training, and publications.

PRITCHETT
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