One of our most viewed posts on LinkedIn recently was a short video that illustrated ambiguity.
A young man responds to a window poster that says:
“ACCOUNTANT WANTED. £35,000 – £40,000”
He calls the number on the poster and with a straight face says:
“You don’t need an accountant; the answer is minus £5,000.”
I was reminded of this yesterday when listening to Philip Hammond’s speech. All is well apparently, and yet if you listen to the opposition, all is not well.
Who we believe seems to be coloured by our individual political leanings, but perhaps more importantly, our interpretation of the same facts is distorted by these same beliefs.
In the case of the man in the video, his literal interpretation was one of two: firstly, that the numbers were the salary range, and secondly, that the numbers were a math problem. He evidently believed the latter, much to the amusement of the 76,000 folks who followed the link, who obviously believed the former.
My guess is, we need to be watchful for the ambiguities we introduce into our questions, unless, of course, we want to be appreciated for our sense of humour. The link, should you have missed it, to view the video is on Laurence’s LinkedIn profile.
At Informanagement we aim to present that facts and avoid interpretation that is likely to be coloured by our writer’s prejudices. Please call us if you would like a demonstration of what we could offer your practice.
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