On the imperfection of communication

I recently watching this short YouTube video experiment and it made me reflect on the challenges of communication in large organizations!

In the video, the presenter draws a simple sketch of a tree with a face, a few mountains in the background and a small bee on the right hand side.

Then he asks someone to copy the picture exactly. The person can do this by putting a piece of paper right next to the first drawing and trying to repeat the sketch. The copier is not allowed to trace over the image and is given no other verbal instructions.

This process is then repeated for 60 people in sequence. In each case, the successive person copies the copy of the person in front of them. So, by the time you get to the 60th person, they are copying a copy of a copy of a copy of a ..... etc - a 60th generational copy.

You will probably imagine that the copy gets a bit worse each time someone copies it. However, you are probably not prepared for how much the final image deviates from the original! The final image is not only unrecognizable as a copy of the original tree, it is unrecognizable as any kind of coherent object (unless you happen to be Joan Miró!).

Here is the original on the left and the 60th generation copy on the right. Yes, really, that thing on the right is what a 60th generation tree, mountain, bee looks like!

Somehow, by repetition, the coherent initial sketch ("message") has not only diverged but has lost all meaning. The only things you may consider features of the message are not even parts of the original. And in this case the people are doing their very best to copy the picture verbatim, so to speak.

Watch the video to see the evolution of the picture on the left into the one on the right. It really is something to see.

The amazing process here made me reflect on the imperfections of repeated communication. When we communicate a message we try to be clear, succinct, and avoid distracting details. If there is an opportunity we may try to check in with the audience to validate that the message has come across cleanly. It feels like success if you hear back the key aspects of the message, often paraphrased - job done!

But as that message is re-communicated from your primary audience to secondary, tertiary, etc groups within your organization, what does it then look like? Is the tree still a tree? Have a few irrelevant lines become a frowny face?

Do you have a good idea of the extent of the divergence created by retelling your message? What can you do to keep your message intact?

Your message may not be communicated 60 times in sequence to different people. But at the same time you also wont be able to so easily see the copy that people are carrying around with them inside their heads!