Preventing Miscommunication
Case Study
James owned a social media agency and was drowning in chaos.
Miscommunications were everywhere: projects were getting mixed up, team members were doing the wrong work, and clients were starting to notice.
He spent most of his time cleaning up messes instead of actually running the business.
It was exhausting.
But once we strengthened one key thinking skill, everything shifted.
His employees knew what they wanted from him, the projects were getting done faster, and for the first time in a long time, James was able to fall asleep quickly without having the worries overtake him.
Thinking Skills
While you are doing any task, you (without even realizing it!) are using your 28 thinking skills.
When the thinking skills you need to use are strong, doing the task happens easily.
If the thinking skill you need to use is weak, doing the task will be a challenge.
The struggle that James had came from a weak thinking skill of labeling.
Labeling
Labeling is the thinking skill that helps your brain understand, process, and remember information by calling items by their right name.
It’s actually not just items, but also people, places, ideas, symbols etc.
You need labels to communicate clearly.
Both for yourself and for the people you are communicating too.
When labeling is weak, you’ll hear a lot of “this,” “that,” “whatever,” “thing.”
While most things in life already come with labels, like a chair, phone, or calendar.
The stuff you create doesn’t have a label until you give it one.
If your systems, workflows and frameworks don’t have a name they stay vague and messy, causing miscommunication.
Once you give them a clear label, your brain knows what they are, where they go, and what to do with them.
Improving Labeling
Here are 4 ways we worked to improve James' labeling:
1) Used the backspace more. Before sending an email or Slack message, James would reread the message and look for vague words. Any words like “this, that, it, thing, whatever” got replaced with it’s proper label.
2) Every process, system, and framework got a name. This was really fun because there are no rules as to what the labels have to be. You can make up something funny and as long as everyone knows what you’re talking about, it works!
3) We got the whole office involved by teaching everyone the concept of labeling. Then, when someone would say a vague word, anyone can interrupt them and have them say it more precisely
4) James would also take 5 minutes a day to speak about something abstract, but make sure to give all the right labels. It might be about how he’s feeling or a conceptual idea. In the beginning, it was tough, but over time, it got a lot easier.
Labels in Meetings
One more thing that worked really well for James was defining terms at the start of meetings.
Any word that would be used a lot in the meeting got a definition so everyone knew what he was talking about.
Your Challenge
Many miscommunications happen when people don’t understand what you’re talking about. You’re both using the same word but meaning something completely different.
Your challenge this week is to practice using your labels more.
Whenever you catch yourself using a vague word, repeat yourself with the right label.
Cheers to Peak Brain Performance!
ST Rappaport, Brain Engineer for ADHDish Business Owners
Hi, I'm ST,
Just like you, I want to get more done in less time.
Most business owners want to grow their business but already got a lot of stress.
At LifePix University we help you optimize your brain to become more efficient and effective while experiencing more inner peace.
Learn more here.
Your Essential Guide
to Cognitive Functions
This guide will give you all you need to start improving your cognitive functions. Learn what all 28 thinking skills are, how they apply to you and what you can do today to begin improving them.
Cognitive Functions Assessment
Thinking is not one big thing. Thinking is made up of 28 parts, called cognitive functions.
Take the FREE assessment to see where each of your cognitive functions are currently at.
How much are your
Thinking skills costing you?
This calculator will figure it out for you in less then 5 minutes.
Preventing Miscommunication
Case Study
James owned a social media agency and was drowning in chaos.
Miscommunications were everywhere: projects were getting mixed up, team members were doing the wrong work, and clients were starting to notice.
He spent most of his time cleaning up messes instead of actually running the business.
It was exhausting.
But once we strengthened one key thinking skill, everything shifted.
His employees knew what they wanted from him, the projects were getting done faster, and for the first time in a long time, James was able to fall asleep quickly without having the worries overtake him.
Thinking Skills
While you are doing any task, you (without even realizing it!) are using your 28 thinking skills.
When the thinking skills you need to use are strong, doing the task happens easily.
If the thinking skill you need to use is weak, doing the task will be a challenge.
The struggle that James had came from a weak thinking skill of labeling.
Labeling
Labeling is the thinking skill that helps your brain understand, process, and remember information by calling items by their right name.
It’s actually not just items, but also people, places, ideas, symbols etc.
You need labels to communicate clearly.
Both for yourself and for the people you are communicating too.
When labeling is weak, you’ll hear a lot of “this,” “that,” “whatever,” “thing.”
While most things in life already come with labels, like a chair, phone, or calendar.
The stuff you create doesn’t have a label until you give it one.
If your systems, workflows and frameworks don’t have a name they stay vague and messy, causing miscommunication.
Once you give them a clear label, your brain knows what they are, where they go, and what to do with them.
Improving Labeling
Here are 4 ways we worked to improve James' labeling:
1) Used the backspace more. Before sending an email or Slack message, James would reread the message and look for vague words. Any words like “this, that, it, thing, whatever” got replaced with it’s proper label.
2) Every process, system, and framework got a name. This was really fun because there are no rules as to what the labels have to be. You can make up something funny and as long as everyone knows what you’re talking about, it works!
3) We got the whole office involved by teaching everyone the concept of labeling. Then, when someone would say a vague word, anyone can interrupt them and have them say it more precisely
4) James would also take 5 minutes a day to speak about something abstract, but make sure to give all the right labels. It might be about how he’s feeling or a conceptual idea. In the beginning, it was tough, but over time, it got a lot easier.
Labels in Meetings
One more thing that worked really well for James was defining terms at the start of meetings.
Any word that would be used a lot in the meeting got a definition so everyone knew what he was talking about.
Your Challenge
Many miscommunications happen when people don’t understand what you’re talking about. You’re both using the same word but meaning something completely different.
Your challenge this week is to practice using your labels more.
Whenever you catch yourself using a vague word, repeat yourself with the right label.
Cheers to Peak Brain Performance!
ST Rappaport, Brain Engineer for ADHDish Business Owners
Hi, I'm ST,
Just like you, I want to be more efficient and effective.
Most entrepreneurs want to grow their business but already got a lot of stress.
At LifePix University we help you rewire your brain to become more efficient and effective while experiencing more inner peace.
Learn more here.
Your Essential Guide
to Cognitive Functions
This guide will give you all you need to start improving your cognitive functions. Learn what all 28 thinking skills are, how they apply to you and what you can do today to begin improving them.
Cognitive Functions Assessment
Thinking is not one big thing. Thinking is made up of 28 parts, called cognitive functions.
Take the FREE assessment to see where each of your cognitive functions are currently at.
How much are your thinking skills costing you?
Find out by using this calculator (for free!)
