Frequently Asked Questions

Challenge: One-sided communication often involves demanding that one person ‘give in’ to another’s’ wishes. When we have this lopsided interaction, there is no room for participation, sharing or collaboration. Basically you end up with what you practice – if you never have the opportunity to practice participation, you never get to learn curiosity, problem solving, or independence. You are missing the experience of self-direction.

Activation: Less is more. When we change our communication, we increase our opportunities to relate to others. Changing your habits of communication changes relationships and behaviors. How does that happen? With practice over time. Like the numbers going down on a scale during a weight loss plan, with the Communication Diet, the feedback is from everyone around you. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what your abilities are: Communication is about meeting others where they are. This is motivation to keep practicing.

We have seen ‘strategies’ applied to improving communication, conversation and leadership. While these techniques can be effective for limited use, when applied to everyday interactions, they don’t work. Becoming collaborative and less demanding allows us to be engaged and interactive resulting in better relationships and healthier leadership roles.

What you don’t say has the most impact. There are no language or cultural barriers when using symbolic language. Humans at their core are hardwired for contrast, which is seen in our natural tendency to look at problem solving as black and white (such as yes/no, right/wrong, etc.). True problem solving comes through collaborative communication, where we experience, revise, re-visit, and change with new knowledge to discover new outcomes.

Yes!! We all are sons and daughters, some are parents, and some are caregivers. We have a lot of diversity in those who are around us day in and day out. We want to enrich those around us with quality interactions just as you’d nourish with healthy food.