GALT Consulting LLC

I spent a few hours at the pool with my family this weekend and had a funny story that I knew immediately would make a great blog post.  Here is what happened.

My son and I were at one end of the pool shooting baskets.  My wife and daughter were at the other end of the pool playing in the water.  I was standing under the rim catching the ball and throwing it back to my son as he practiced his shooting.  Then I looked across the pool and way on the other end, my wife held both of her hands up in the universal sign of "throw me the ball!".

My wife is not really a sports person and I have never seen her handle a basketball in her life.  I paused wondering why she would want me to throw the ball to her, especially from all the way across the pool.  As I stared at her with the ball in my hand, she again put both hands in the air and made a face like "do it!".  So I launched the ball across the pool...

Now for my wife's side of the story.

She was playing at the end of the pool with my daughter and she was starting to get hungry.  Knowing that I was planning to grill out for dinner that night and that it would take me awhile to get dinner going once we got home, she looked at the clock and determined that it was time for us to leave in 10 minutes.  She caught my attention and raised her hands in the universal sign of "10 more minutes".  Apparently, I looked confused, so she again made the "10 more minutes" sign.  Then, to her great surprise, her husband of almost 15 years launched a basketball across the pool at her.

As my wife flung herself out of the way of the ball, which missed her, but splashed a considerable amount of water in her direction, it occurred to me how interesting communication can be.  Here was a situation where two people see the same things and interpret it two different ways.  Our intentions were both pure, but the outcome was fraught with potential conflict. 

This happens frequently in organizations.  One person makes a comment and another person takes it the wrong way.  It is important to remember how easily miscommunication can occur and to forgive each other from time to time for misunderstandings... especially when it involves launching a basketball at my lovely, lovely wife!
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