Communication: semantic assumption

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“Our ability to communicate is not measured by how we say things, but by how we are understood” (Andrew S. Grove).

According to the definition, connotation is the use of a word with a meaning different from the original, created by the context. Example: you have a heart of stone.

Semantic assumption is the specification of meaning, particularly of reference, that is, everything we say causes our interlocutor to need to find a meaning or a reference. Example: the word “ dog ”. If it is addressed to a person nepal phone number list military training, it will probably cause them to refer to a part of the weapon (the hammer of a revolver, the hammer of a rifle, etc.); if it is addressed to a person of northeastern origin, it will cause them to refer to Lucifer, the devil, or something bad; and if it is addressed to someone else, the reference will probably be to the animal dog.

In a professional environment, semantic assumptions must be taken into consideration throughout the communication process, since people tend to take their own specifications of meaning or references as true. And if we consider the statement “the responsibility for communication is half that of the one who makes it and half that of the one who receives it” to be true, we must be careful to ensure that communication fulfills its role to the fullest.

The important thing in communication is what the other person understood, not what you meant. Good intentions are just the first step towards effective communication; much more is needed to achieve the objective.

Peter Senge in the book “The Fifth Discipline” says that most conflicts within organizations are caused by this semantic assumption or, if you prefer, distorted definition or wrong understanding of information.

Poorly disclosed information can generate stress, expectations, conflict, rework and waste of time. Undisclosed information can generate communication noise, anxiety, conflict and even rumors. But the worst that can happen is information that is half-hearted, incomplete, lacking an ending, without a conclusion, etc. People need an ending for any type of information. We don't want information that is half-hearted. A film or a story needs to have an ending and when we don't have the ending, we project it . That's right, when we don't have the ending to the story, we project our fears or our desires.

Imagine that you heard the following story (it is important to say that story and history have the same etymological origin and the same meaning, however some authors use story to designate an everyday narrative. That is what we will do here).