Silence and management - part 4

…text about Silence in organization continues - this is part 4.

3.    Silence vs darkness

 

Let us still deepen our understanding of silence by taking a one new and particularly intriguing perspective on silence.  As we noticed in the previous chapter silence is related but not restricted to our hearing ability and thus to our ears?  Partly silence means that we do not hear anything but silence also means many other things. This is really intriguing. Wikipedia opens its silence entry with the following lines:

Silence is the lack of audible sound or presence of sounds of very low intensity. By analogy, the word silence can also refer to any absence of communication, including in media other than speech.  Silence is also used as total communication, in reference to non verbal communication and spiritual connection. Silence also refers to no sounds uttered by anybody in a room or area

One way to deepen our understanding about silence is to ask that are silence and darkness comparable concepts. One might think so, because the other refers to hearing and the other to seeing.  One might think that silence prevails when you do not hear anything, and darkness prevails when you do not see anything. You might think that these concepts are sisters or brothers on the semantic[1] sense, but they seem to be very different. In particular the connotations which relate these words are surprisingly different.

Please test this by yourself: silence vs. darkness. Please stop for a while to reflect these two words. How they are similar? How they are different? What would you propose?

One answer in my mind is that for some reason silence appears to be both very positive concept (happy, joyful, awe, refers to deep wisdom etc.) and word which brings with it very negative connotations (sad, even bad because the lack of caring, fear, etc.).

On the other hand the connotations which relate to darkness appear to be predominantly fearsome, sad and even evil.  Again I turned to internet and searched for pictures which were related to darkness. In one picture there was a following evocative sentence which appears to capture the message which was present in numerous pictures:

                      “It's not the darkness we are afraid of,

                       it's what lays within the Dark we fear!”

It actually seemed that one major line of approaching darkness in numerous pictures was that there is something dangerous in the darkness and our heroes go there for us and fight the fight for us.[2] The message seems to be that the fight would be too difficult to us hence we need a hero who is capable to face that foe and win our battle for us.

What can we learn from this discussion when we turn our attention to silence in an organization? At least one message is clear, we must not be too quick to think that silence is always a negative thing, just an item in liabilities. Perhaps there is more in silence, also when examined in organizational context. At least tentatively we must keep open the possibility that sometimes silence may also be - surprise, surprise - a success factor.

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[1] And again Wikipedia helps: Semantics (from Ancient Greek: σημαντικός sēmantikós)^[1][2] is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, like words, phrases, signs, and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotation.

And internet help to find explanation for denotation: Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary definition."¨ For example, if you look up the word snake in a dictionary, you will discover that one of its denotative meanings is "any of numerous scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptiles, a long, tapering, cylindrical body and found in most tropical and temperate regions."  Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. The connotations for the word snake could include evil or danger.

 

[2] One very tentative thought why silence and darkness bring with them so different connotations. Let us think how language has developed in connection with human development. Let us think a hunter in the forest. Could it be that for her/him darkness was a negative thing, a predator could be close. And could it be that silence was a good thing, a one sign of safety.

Enjoying life - use of language - the Savo case

There is a very special area in our dear Finland where people speak a bit differently - that area is Savo. You can find that part of a country around Kuopio city. The very special way how Finnish language is used in Savo region has caused several interpretations among other Finns.

The two main interpretations have been: 1) When a person speaks the Savo language it is a hearers task to be very vigilant and decide what part of the speak can be trusted and what part should be left in doubt. 2) And more directly the suspicion towards Savo speakers has been expressed by saying that users of the Savo language should be approached with care because it may difficult to know what they really mean. Generally speaking it is clear that Finland is a so called low context country where words are considered crucial in communication, please see Edward T Hall.

In Finland people do respect highly different parts of the country and also different dialects are considered as a national richness and hence all dialects and also Savo language are actually cherished. And it is simply just great that this is the way how things are here in this country. Hence, also the comments what people direct towards the Savo speakers should be viewed from this perspective of appreciative respect and interest.

Nevertheless, I think that it is now time to join this discussion which revolves around Savo language. Hence, in this blog I propose an other interpretation concerning the real essence of Savo language. Surely, this text is just a short commentary, but it still purports to offer a somewhat new angle to our everyday discussion. I believe that in more general terms this blog briefly examines the use of language in everyday situations and how clever people are in using their own language and their own dialects in Finland and certainly around the Globe. Also this text may on its part demonstrate that the whole world is really a learning environment - have you ever visited a cafeteria without learning something new?

My interpretation here is based on new anectode which happened just a moment ago. I had a lucky opportunity to hear from a side how very advanced Savo speaker, a person who had already celebrated her 70th anniversary spoke in a phone with her friend. As such the discussion was very general in nature, it was about everyday topics so there was no secrets in that phone conversation. Hence I did not consider my role as an accidental hearer any way difficult.

However, structure of the discussion was simply enchanting and I think that I understood something new about the Savo language. The speaker was telling about her everyday matters and events, but this was not the main crux in that phone discussion.  What was most arresting was that the speaker kept throwing verbal knuckleballs all the time (I will say few words about knuckleballs at the end of this blog). When looked from the outside people may think that Savo language, and apparently other dialects as well,  are mainly about somewhat peculiar pronunciation and special speak which is peppered with unique words.  But in essence dialects are about something else. The essence seems to be a way of being together, where a special way of speaking creates unique connection between people. Also a key element in that special speaking seems to be a celebration of a clever use of language - the use of words, expressions and images which all the time challenge and invite the other to join to that very active and certainly energizing interaction.



I would tentatively propose that perhaps the rich and joyful use of Savo language could be viewed against the history, against those conditions of life which where present not so long ago. The living conditions also in Savo region have been challenging, sometimes even the rye bread may have been a scarcely available - to put it mildly. Thus people have endured a lot of grueling, hard work and a lot of all kids of challenges and real suffering. Could it be that a very rich use of language has been a way say to the other - please join me to this rich use of language, we are both living now in this moment and there is so much enjoyment in this moment and in this life.

Joyful and invigorating discussions in every dialect and every language!

P.s. And what comes to the knuckleball I am enormously thankful to wikipedia because there this concept is opened with a masterful wording:

A knuckleball (or knuckler for short) is a baseball pitch with an erratic, unpredictable motion. The pitch is thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight. This causes vortices over the stitched seams of the baseball during its trajectory, which in turn can cause the pitch to change direction—and even corkscrew—in mid-flight. This makes the pitch difficult for batters to hit, but also difficult for pitchers to control. The challenge also extends to the catcher, who must at least attempt to catch the pitch, and the umpire, who must determine whether the pitch was a strike or ball.