http://howdowecommunicate.blogspot.com/
Bill brings up an excellent point about the importance of communication. Communication is especially important in sports because without out it, teams won't act cohesively and will struggle to succeed. Look at the 2004 Mens USA Olympic Basketball team. Their team was compiled of NBA allstars, Bryant, Iverson, Mcgrady to name a few, whose talent levels where through the roof. Having the better players didn't translate to wins, as the USA lost to names like Lithuania and ended up recieving a bronze medal that year. This example is proof that no matter how much better players you have then the other team, if they don't play together, they won't win. It's this element of team chemistry, or how well players on a team communicate and work with one another, that makes a team great.
As he said, communication is definitely a two-way street. But before one can begin to communicate, one must understand the individual that they are trying to communicate with.
There is one sports comedy movie that emphasizes this point called Eddie. For those of you who haven't seen it, which you should do eventually, its about a die-hard Knicks fan (Whoopi Goldberg) who wins a contest and ultimately becomes the Knicks head coach. As a coach, she begins to learn that the reason why the Knicks aren't winning is because they don't communicate with each other or the coach and thus, don't play well as a team. This scene here (from 6:25-7:30) illustrates how Eddie learns importance of communication and understanding in sports. She then takes the time to understand her players. She teaches 7-foot Ivan english, she discusses marital troubles with Hastings, and shows Stacey Patton the importance of teamwork. The movie ends up proving that understanding one anothers differences in strengths can be difference between mediocrity and greatness.
It seems to me that effective communication can be divided into at least two types depending on whether or not they require empathy. Effective communication in sports or between a pilot and an air traffic controller requires speaking the same language and/or understanding signals, but does not require empathy.
ReplyDeleteCommunication with a friend or family member is most meaningful if the parties have empathy for each other.
The example from the movie demonstrates how communication can evolve to include empathy as the parties become familiar with each other.