By now everyone has seen the Susan Boyle clip from Britain’s Got Talent. An amazing performance. If not, you must be the only person on the planet, but here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk
I’ve watched it a least a dozen times and it still brings tears to my eyes!
It reminds me of the relativity of communication. The impact and result of our communication is always relative to something else. In this case the impact was created not by performance itself, but by the expectation. No-one (apart from Simon Cowell!!) expected it. Everyone in the audience had convinced themselves she was going to be a disaster.
When we’re communicating, it’s always useful to think about the expectations we are setting – either directly or indirectly. Whether it’s good news or bad news, it’s always measured against the expectations of the audience. And expectations can be influenced beforehand. As someone once said “the secret to happiness is low expectations”. Maybe for communication also.
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