A failure to communicate, and a new opportunity

On the one hand, communication is more effective than it's ever been; individuals have a surfeit of options to express themselves (and do, incessantly), communities exercise their power over institutions, and we all have access to more diverse points of view than most of us knew existed a few years ago.

Businesses, for the most part, though, haven't significantly changed the way they communicate - to their own employees, or to us, since the dawn of the industrial age. In a world where communication has become more human and humans have become exponentially more capable of using it, corporations still use methods developed to support archaic management models, filled with corporate and marketing speak that becomes increasingly incoherent.

The old model of communication within organizations was designed to support leaders striving for equilibrium and stability by imposing control. For customers, it was the relatively unchallenged source of news, information, and what to want next. The new systems are emergent and uncontrollable.

The gap between the old "top-down-need-to-know-and-we-know-best" corporate communications world, and the free form, impulse-driven way that humans talk to each other are creating a gulf that continues to erode trust in corporations (thereby costing them money), and at the same time denying society access to the valuable wisdom, perspective, power and good will that businesses have to offer. And we need that, desperately.

What does it mean when people and institutions have such radically different ways of using language and structuring communication? What does it say about our chances of working together, aligning our behavior, and moving from talk to action to create a more just society for all people and all species?

The linguistic relativity principle is the notion that the way we frame and categorize our experiences through language has an impact on our world view, and therefore on the way we behave. No wonder we find ourselves at cross purposes, even when trying to solve the same challenges.

The problem with our "civilized" world is that we live too much in our heads, when we need to live in, and through our bodies as well - to be the intelligent animals we are - a part of the natural world again.

Social networks are still for the most part products of, and in, our minds. They have yet to prove that they can inspire and engender the actions needed to create change. Business, on the other hand, has.

To combine the best of both worlds, businesses need to see their communications as a system, rather than a series of siloed events, and then design that system to connect in more meaningful ways to the world outside their companies. The notion of "identity" should be evolved from one of iconic symbols representing the past to living identities created by values and shared goals for the future. Respect for the "amateur" approach to problem solving over the tired "professional" ones can bring an open-minded, broader perspective that is sorely needed. And importantly, by disciplining themselves to use human, unworn language instead of the laziness of tired, empty, opaque clichs.

For their part, citizens need to be open and willing to begin a meaningful dialog again with companies, trusting that we can all work together.

Our opportunity is find a way to talk to each other again, as humans inside or outside corporations, to pool our collective wisdom, rectify our language, bridge the gap between business and society so that we can understand and support each other, participate in creating a shared vision for what's possible, and build communities that act together toward a common goal rather than just talking to themselves about it.