A bright young
man working as a sales representative of a Big Beverages Company recently got a
Big Project from his Company. Like we all know, Big Project means Bigger Pay
check. So, as you could trust, he walked enthusiastically into the Admin
office. He could not wait. The word is out – The Project is Huge!
The project was
this; Create awareness about our product and make Sales. That simple? No, not
really. If he was asked to Create Awareness in Lagos, that would have been so easy. But just
imagine your company telling you to sell Energy drinks to people in a remote
village, who did not even know there is any other liquid than Water. Now, that
is a Biiiig
Project!
Well, trust our
friend, beaming with Ideas. He accepted the Project gleefully. This is the Dream
Project he had been awaiting. What, he is helping expand the Company’s reach.
That is a huge boost to his name, ego and pocket. *Grinning* Now, his Bank
account could smile at last.
It was only after he started that he
discovered that the people of the Hills (Villagers) do not even understand
English Language. Their writings are more Hieroglyphic than Alphabetic. That
is, They use Symbols in stead of Letters. Here is a Challenge, what would you
do?
Trust our Friend: He came up with ways to
pass on his message – By Employing the Imageries. He used Images to convey his
message, and his Company gave him a round of applause. This would work.
The Imagery comprises of three drawings.
The first is of a man very exhausted in a desert. The second depicts the man
drinking the Energy drink. The Third shows the man after drinking the beverage
feeling revitalised and jumping up in excitement. This would surely work!
Three Months later, our friend was back
with a big smile across his face. No, he was back with the world’s most
solemn frown. He failed. He failed woefully. Ties hanging haggardly from both
physical and mental exhaustion, he staggered on to the nearest seat muttering,
“They ran. God, they ran away! Nobody told me they read from the back!”
Take your time, and understand the picture
perfectly. You see, the reason why so many beautiful ideas fail is because the
ideas, as beautiful as they are, are not being properly communicated to those
who should tap into it.
This is also one big reason behind a lot of
rifts, damages, upset and misunderstanding. After all, if you do not get the
proper message and add your own meaning to things some times, it could be way
different from what the other person was trying to pass across. In most cases,
the meaning you give to it is unpleasant.
For example, imagine FantaFab being written
in a language you could not read. You would agree there would no communication.
Now imagine you could read it without getting my message – That means you would
be giving it your own meaning, meanings not guaranteed to be positive.
This is the reason why we should be
concerned not just about the messages we pass; but also about how we pass them,
the language and the medium through which we pass these messages.
This simple rule of Life applies from all
ages. Remember when God wanted to stop one of human’s biggest projects (Project
Tower-Of-Babel), all he did was do a little something-something with the
Language system. Those dudes just could not understand one another again. They
went from one language to Legions.
When God decided on the Advancement of his
biggest Project for Humans, what did he do? He simply did another little
something-something with the Language system again. He made sure recipients
were hearing the message in their own Language – Simple as that.
You should remember this in your
relationship with your friends, family, spouse, clients, colleagues,
acquaintances, customers, and even God. Learn to speak to everyone in the
language they would understand. Or look for media that transcends Language…
Well, none exists. But some still help reduce the barrier of vocal languages.
Example? Imageries!
Aloha!