What type of silence kills?
Last week we looked at the first type of silence (Part 1) that can literally kill people or at very least kill morale; it was the fear of punishment or harsh consequences. Where have you noticed this happening (at work or at home)? What steps have you taken to overcome it? What steps do you still need to take to open up communication? Now that you have tackled the first dangerous type of silence, let’s take Key Steps to explore the second…
Deadly silence (Part 2)
- Doubt ourselves. This happened in the blood type mismatch tragedy at Duke University Medical Centre. A person in authority behaved in a way that the support staff thought was risky but no one said anything because they thought they might be wrong or might not have all the details. Rather than risking a moment of foolishness, a young girl lost her life. Identify this type of deadly silence so that you can…
- Combat self-doubt. Encourage people to challenge you and make it part of the norm for people to give feedback to one another. To create a new culture, you will likely need to be the example and risk sticking your neck out and also ask for feedback regularly. Do not expect people to start talking up just because you said they should. People learn better from what they see, so be an example. Developing the habit of speaking out will ensure that the fear of saying something ‘stupid’ is minimised. To achieve this, it’s critical that feedback is valued and people are not ridiculed if they do make a mistake or ask the ‘stupid’ question. Changing a culture takes time, keep at it and you will…