Transforming Communication Interview Part 3

Part 3 of the transforming communication interview is here…

… Richard: And that same research of course applies in the corporate environment for example.

Michael: Wow. So that sounds like really powerful stuff.

Richard: It is. It’s dramatic. And I think it’s probably the first time in history when we’ve had this good information about how that works. Everyone has known that some people are a little better at creating cooperative relationships, are a little better at getting on with people, and people have different theories about that.

But what we have now is tried and tested information about it, we have research and Gottman’s research with couples for example, he would take a hundred couples and video them over an entire weekend. And so while he’s watching them on the video, afterwards reviewing it, he’s able to check in real life what actually makes a difference if he follows these couples up for the next year, what decides when people stay together.

Michael: Okay, so … I know you’ve kind of touched on a briefly: who would the course be useful to?

Richard: Well,  the range is phenomenal. And, so, as I mentioned I worked with the New Zealand government. Here is a whole series of people, groups of people who are doing important things in New Zealand, and they’re making important decisions, and they’re trying to make those decisions together.

I worked with the top management of the Inland Revenue in New Zealand, I’m working at present with the people in the Treasury in New Zealand there, and what they’re wanting to know most of all is: how do we create an environment where we can listen to each other, where we can cooperate with each other, and actually achieve the things we came here to do.

And so, one of the things that impressed me when I started working with those organisations at the government level was, I had the idea perhaps these are such serious people that cooperation is a little almost like touchy feely for them. And what happened with Inland Revenue was I said: well, I introduce you to some of these skills, to the top management there, and I’m not really sure that you want the other skills.

So, we did the first part of the course, and then they said: well, tell us what’s in the second half because it’s starting to get interesting. So then I introduced them to a couple of the processes that they would learn in the second half of the course.

And immediately they said: we’ve got to have that…

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Who would have thought that! The Inland Revenue…! Find out in part 4 of the Transforming Communication interview where else these skills can be useful…