The Fluff
The other day my coworker turned to me and made an observation that “there is a lot of fluff in the world.”
I was intrigued… so I asked him to explain.
He was researching a company and noticed that their branding consisted of a lot of talk and not a whole lot of walk.
He then proceeded to tell me how he finds that a lot of individuals in today’s world talk a big game but have no notable skills to back it up.
And I wanted to find a way to talk about this – Why is it that people who bring a lot to the table usually don’t know how to articulate their worth? And why is it that those who are filled with a bunch of hot air claim to invent the next best thing since sliced bread?
Every day we are fortunately, or unfortunately, susceptible to “influencers”. Influencers... also known as the new age title for advertising or marketing personas that usually exert their influence online.
By this point in the post, you are probably wondering how influencers and fluff have anything to do with the workplace and how this could affect your day to day – Yeah yeah yeah, I’m getting there. Keep reading.
Raise your hand if you have ever been managed by “fluff”. Raise your hand if you see your executive team and think “I’m so much smarter than them”. Raise your hand if you leave meetings shaking your head thinking “what the heck did they even say in that meeting?”
Yeah – welcome to fluff in the workplace.
Unfortunately, it fills our calendar way more than our time should allow. So how does Civil Communication and Civil Dialogue in the workplace help diffuse the fluff? Civil Dialogue is designed to help individuals on a team, on a board or simply in a meeting communicate without all the fluff. It is designed, it is direct, and it ends with a conclusion everyone can have a perspective on.
+ It starts with a topic, or a prompt if you will, that invites each individual to communicate his or her perspective. Designed.
+ It gives each contributor the floor to engage with other individuals and challenge or ask questions. Direct.
+ And it offers a reflection period where perspectives can change, ideas can be added, and the prompt can be reflected upon. Conclusion.
The influencers in the workplace are so powerful because they have found a way to communicate fluff without much substance. By incorporating Civil Dialogue into the workplace, it challenges team members -- influencers included -- to design a topic that is meaningful, to be direct in conversation, and to be reflective.
On each post I ask for examples, stories, and conversation to engage further with Civil Communication. If you notice fluff in your workplace, bring it to my attention and we can talk through how Civil Communication can help. I can provide resources, ideas, and observations about the situation. An answer may not be provided, but conversation and productive communication, will.
