What We Expect to Hear

"Our ability to receive messages is limited by the fact that we tend to hear only what we expect to hear," observed management guru Peter Drucker in his classic, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (New York:  Harper & Row, 1974).  "The human mind attempts to fit impressions and stimuli into a frame of expectations.  It resists vigorously any attempts to make it change its mind, that is, to perceive what it does not expect to perceive....

"Before we can communicate, we must, therefore, know what the recipient expects to see and hear.  Only then can we know whether communication can utilize his expectations... or whether there is a need for the 'shock of alienation,' for an 'awakening' that breaks through the recipient's expectations and forces him to realize that the unexpected is happening."

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.

© 2005 Child Care Information Exchange - All Rights Reserved | Contact Us | Return to Site