The effectiveness of communication

I had the privilege of participating in a small group session in Manhattan yesterday with Katie Paine, of KDPaine & Partners, in a discussion about measurement of social media measurement and strategy. I could write 20 posts based on the five hours our group had with her.

But as I started to jot down some thoughts on some of the many specifics and advice she offered, I kept coming back to how she started her presentation with a simple quote from her father, Ralph Delahaye Paine, when he was the publisher of Fortune Magazine in 1960.

“If we can put a man in orbit, why can’t we determine the effectiveness of our communications? The reason is simple and perhaps, therefore, a little old-fashioned: people, human beings with a wide range of choice. Unpredictable, cantankerous, capricious, motivated by innumerable conflicting interests, and conflicting desires.”

Ah yes, it’s all about people.

A simple statement.

Yet, often we get so caught up as communicators – in business, politics, church, at home – that we “forget” that none of us can predict how our messages are received and what actions, if any, people are compelled to take.