Listening — One at a Time

It’s only human nature to want to name things. Names are the first step to a definition. A definition is the first step to knowledge. Knowledge leads to understanding and we on our way through Bloom’s taxonomy.

Yet we have to be careful with the names we choose, because names can limit our thinking as they shape it.

Writers, Readers, Teachers, Sales Reps, Users, Customers, Marketer, Bloggers, Vendors, Workers, Managers, Employees . . .

All of those words refer to people. Individuals grouped together.

To hear them we have to listen to each one — not the group together shouting. To get to the valuable information, we have to listen individually. We need to hear from their individual points of view and their individual experiences. Any other way we do it, only gets us to shallow information.

If we hear their individual stories, we can sort to find the universal truths we share as people.

The group words we use to describe folks get in the way of hearing what each individual is saying.

When we listen actively, we listen to people — one at a time.

Liz Strauss