<\/p>\n
In 1990, a psychology student at Stanford University, conducted an interesting experiment.\u00a0 It was referred to as the “Tappers & Listeners” experiment.\u00a0 The rest of the world first heard of it when the authors Chip and Dan Heath started talking about in public.<\/p>\n
For her PhD dissertation, Elizabeth Newton invited her peers in college to participate in the study.\u00a0 Each student was assigned one of two roles: ‘Tapper’ or ‘Listener’.\u00a0 The tappers were given a list of twenty-five popular tunes, such as “Happy Birthday to you” and “Jingle Bells”.\u00a0 They had to tap out the tune with their fingers on a table, and the listeners had to guess the song.\u00a0 As you might have guessed, this was not an easy task at all.\u00a0 Of the hundred and twenty times a tune was tapped, the listener could guess the tune correctly only thrice.\u00a0 That’s a success rate of about 2.5%.<\/p>\n
But here’s the interesting bit.\u00a0 Before the tappers began to tap the tune, Elizabeth asked them to predict the probability of the listeners being able to guess the song correctly.\u00a0 The tappers predicted a 50% chance that they would be able to get the listeners to guess the tune correctly.<\/p>\n
So while they thought that they would be able to get the listeners to guess correctly one out of two times, the reality was that listeners could guess the tune only once in forty attempts.\u00a0 How come?<\/p>\n
Well, here’s what was happening.\u00a0 As the tapper taps the tune, he can hear the song playing in his head\u00a0 His fingers seem to be tapping the tune in perfect sync with what’s playing in his head.\u00a0 And he just can’t understand what the listener is not able to pick up such a simple tune!<\/p>\n
And what about the listener?\u00a0 Well, she doesn’t have the tune playing in her head, without which, she has no idea what’s happening.\u00a0 She tries as hard as can to make sense of the bizarre Morse-code like tapping that she hears.\u00a0 Alas, to no avail.\u00a0 This results in utter frustration.<\/p>\n
As leaders, we often fall into the tapper’s trap!\u00a0 We give instructions which seem very clear in our heads but our colleagues may have no idea what we want them to do.\u00a0 Has it happened to you that you called a young trainee to do some work, and when she got back the next day – having slogged all night to finish the task – you were disappointed?\u00a0 She hadn’t quiet done what you were looking for.\u00a0 You probably felt a bit frustrated too, that she ‘didn’t quiet get it.’<\/p>\n
The next time that happens, do remember that the problem is with the tapper – not the listener.\u00a0 Because you knew what you wanted to get done, you assumed it was clear to the young trainee too.\u00a0 That is seldom the case.<\/p>\n
The next time you are communicating with a colleague, think about the “Tappers & Listeners” experiment.\u00a0 And remember, what’s obvious to you may not be so to the other person.\u00a0 When the listener says he doesn’t get it, that’s not a signal to get irritated.\u00a0 It’s probably telling you to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, and try and be more explicit.\u00a0 Don’t assume that knowledge levels are the same.<\/p>\n
One more thing. Tapping harder or Tapping repeatedly won’t make it any easier for the Listener!<\/p>\n
Talent Power Partners works with organizations in high growth mode in supporting their Leadership Training Initiatives, through workshops and lecturettes, group alignment and coaching and one on one Executive Coaching. Visit us at www.talentpowerpartners.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"