Proper Connection

“If you stack in a single stainless steel nut, the resistance is enough to potentially start a fire.” I was discussing a 12v electrical connection with a knowledgeable friend. When we unpacked it, what he said made sense, but it really isn’t obvious unless you know. It would be a simple and understandable mistake to make. 

It reminded me of two recent situations involving human connection and similar heat. 

“He doesn’t seem to listen, or respect our experience” - Executive Leaders talking about a peer. The ‘evidence’ was he sat looking down with his arms folded. On discussion, it turns out that in his culture of origin ‘looking down, arms folded’ is how you listen with respect. Poor quality connection, unnecessary heat. Burning time, energy and resources in an environment where everyone is already busy.

“Sales, Warehousing and Delivery just will not cooperate” - Classic silos. They all needed each other but were getting in each other's way. Delivery felt sales were overpromising. Warehousing reckons no one allows enough lead time. Again, poor connection with the various people not understanding the strengths and limitations of the other people in the organisation.

It crops up all over the place and it’s costly by any metric you care to examine. If things could be working better, great questions to ask are “what is the quality of the connections and how could they be improved?”