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I'm OK, the bull is dead: Communication skills for engineers

computerworld.com

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Re: I'm OK, the bull is dead: Communication skills for engineers

#21

Post by scott_s »

gruseom wrote: post #13
BrentRitterbeck wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Sorry Dad. I rained all over myself." That's a breakdown in the kid's/family's communication. It is simple to say, "I walked in the rain." It conveys the exact same piece of information--I'm wet because it was raining outside, and I was outside without something to keep the rain off of me. There are numerous other ways to say the same thing without sounding backwards.

Sure. But I think the point was that the father realized that he had overemphasized a linguistic device at the expense of a general principle. He'd got his 8-year-old into a state of clueless, if not malicious, compliance, which didn't serve the real goal. (In fact, it often backfires, because people will instinctively resist anything that inhibits their freedom.) By the way, using active instead of passive language…

The phone call reporting it is. I imagine his son put in the "bull is dead" bit to be funny - which it was. But when I've had to make similar phone calls, I always start with "I'm okay, but..." It tells the person on the other end the most important thing first: I'm okay.

Re: I'm OK, the bull is dead: Communication skills for engineers

#22

Post by petercooper »

sharpn wrote: post #16

Surely it should be: 'I'm OK, but I've been in a car accident'? Then maybe mention the bull.

That doesn't fit the "conclusion first" advice that makes sense to clarify a situation. Problem is, an irrelevant conclusion was chosen. A better alternative following the advice would be something like "I'm OK but the car is wrecked."

Re: I'm OK, the bull is dead: Communication skills for engineers

#23

Post by sharpn »

petercooper wrote: post #22
sharpn wrote: post #16

Surely it should be: 'I'm OK, but I've been in a car accident'? Then maybe mention the bull.

That doesn't fit the "conclusion first" advice that makes sense to clarify a situation. Problem is, an irrelevant conclusion was chosen. A better alternative following the advice would be something like "I'm OK but the car is wrecked."

I agree that's a better phrase based on the rules, but stating what happened ('car crash') rather than the result ('car is wrecked') conveys more information (ie. why 'I' am not already home). Either works though.

Re: I'm OK, the bull is dead: Communication skills for engineers

#24

Post by angstrom »

nico wrote: post #6

I liked the story. I remembered my grandfather (a very successful engineer) once told me I should take acting classes or something that would force me to address an audience and communicate something in a way the audience would understand. He then explained to me that engineers are usually not taught how to communicate things effectively, and how this can make a big difference in trying to accomplish your objectives…

I've oft thought that was the failing of most college programs. You're asked to show all your work, but rarely is the explanation for your decisions given nearly as much weighting as the actual outcome and how you got there. In reality is what you actually learned.

Switch over to the real world where 'cheating' becomes 'teamwork' and problems are discovered rather than verbosely outlined. Communication becomes the face of your reputation. While the ability to deliver may be the heart, no one can see it without closer inspection.

Re: I'm OK, the bull is dead: Communication skills for engineers

#25

Post by calcnerd256 »

Maybe he should follow the style himself when writing the article about it. The punchline should almost stand alone by itself. It shouldn't say, "Hey, audience, now you have to listen to the rest of this to understand what I meant." "The bull is dead," is a very provocative clause that leaves the audience scrambling for (irrelevant) context.

Re: I'm OK, the bull is dead: Communication skills for engineers

#27

Post by pbhj »

scott_s wrote: post #21
gruseom wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. But I think the point was that the father realized that he had overemphasized a linguistic device at the expense of a general principle. He'd got his 8-year-old into a state of clueless, if not malicious, compliance, which didn't serve the real goal. (In fact, it often backfires, because people will instinctively resist anything that inhibits their freedom.) By the way, using active instead of passive language…

The phone call reporting it is. I imagine his son put in the "bull is dead" bit to be funny - which it was. But when I've had to make similar phone calls, I always start with "I'm okay, but..." It tells the person on the other end the most important thing first: I'm okay.

I never start a conversation with my mother like "I've been in an accident ...", if you're cut off then she'd go psycho and be needing tranqs. As the parent said "We're all OK but ...".
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