Communication - The Key To Success

In my teens, I had gone on one picnic and there was one game played along. There was a big circle formed between the players (roughly 20-25 nos.). All were seated in one circle and one member will start the game. He should tell one message to the person on his right in his ear in hushed voice so no other member is able to guess. This goes on repeating until full circle is complete and the person on the left of the person who started told the message loudly to the gathering. At the end of the game, the original message and the message announced loudly should be same. This has to be confirmed by the first member. 

Funny things happen in this game. First everyone should be able to tell effectively. Other person should be able to listen effectively. So, both the aspect of the communication come in to picture here. You must be able to give the message clearly and you must hear with full attention. You don't have to do any other thing here. I don't remember all the messages, but I do remember one of them. The first one started with 'A Mango on the tree'. When it circulated among all the members, it was announced finally as 'Ek Aadmi Ped Par Chad raha tha'. A man was climbing on the tree. Funny enough. It happened like this. The message 'A Mango on the tree', quickly became 'A Man Go On the Tree'. Someone in the link did not understand English. He was given a translation as was announced at the end. This message was in local language, so everybody else was able to deliver it as it is easily.

The game brings the important aspect of communication. We are communicating because others need to understand it. Whatever is communicated should be legible, understandable for person who is hearing. Many a times, there are pictures in assembly line with message in English and very small letters. The first thing is that the letters should be legible from the readable distance - they should be big enough and clear. Second, most of the members of the working group may not necessarily be good in english or even know english. How can they read then? This is just one example to stress the importance of communication.