Why Won’t They Listen?!

Just Because You’ve Communicated Doesn’t Mean They’ve Heard You

It’s not uncommon for project teams and executive sponsors to suffer from what’s known as the “curse of knowledge,” a term coined in the book Made to Stick. In a nutshell, the curse of knowledge is the psychological phenomenon where once you know something well, it’s difficult to remember what it is like to NOT know that. For project teams charged with implementing a new business initiative, this happens when they try to build awareness for their new initiative but are so familiar with the details that it’s difficult for them to put themselves in the position of uninitiated stakeholders. Solution: test and refine your messages on a small subset of stakeholders.

Individuals forget about 90 percent of what they see and hear within two weeks. Why is this so? In the United States, we are exposed to more than 1,600 advertising, public relations, marketing messages, and internal communications every day. Of them, we “see” only 80. And we really recall and take action on just 12. Most people need to hear new information multiple times before it registers in their minds for immediate recollection – before it “sticks.” This is why saying aloud a new name three times consciously can help you remember it. Solution: repeat your message. Repeat your message. Repeat your message.

However, some people will never learn new information by hearing it, and must instead see it (visual learners). Others learn through doing it themselves (action learners). This is why it’s important to employ a range of communications channels and methods. Solution: use a wide variety of communications channels. To help get you started, here is a partial list:

1. Hallway conversations
2. Posters
3. Screensavers
4. Town hall / all-hands meetings
5. Instant messenger
6. Voice mails
7. Streaming videos
8. Internal company publications
9. Newsletters
10. E-mail
11. Focus groups
12. Twitter
13. LinkedIn
14. Facebook
15. Team meetings
16. One-on-one meetings
17. Company intranet / portal
18. Bulletin boards
19. Press releases
20. Industry publications
21. Home mailers