The world is round - really!

In 1492 when the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus set out from Spain on a western route to find India he was in the minority in believing that the world was round.  Before his ship spotted land - what actually turned out to be the Bahamas - his crew were close to mutiny expecting to fall off the edge of the world at any point.  You can imagine that the debate between round and flat was all the rage in the 15th century and most scholars had the arguments well honed on either side.  



Over 600 years later there is no need for us to debate this point anymore now that man has landed on the moon and we have thousands of satellites orbiting the earth.  Sometimes at work I find myself trying to make basic points without success and it is only after exhausting all arguments I suddenly realize that the person or people I am arguing with not only do not understand my point, but they do not even understand the basic principles upon which my argument is based.  In essence they think the world is flat.  Try explaining to someone the concept of a satellite i.e. an object that orbits the earth, when they do not even believe the world is round!  You suddenly realize the individual is never going to follow your premise, as they do not even understand the foundations of your argument.  The problem is whilst you have mastered the art of explaining the various benefits a satellite can provide e.g. GPS, Television, broadband communications, military surveillance etc. you never thought to learn or practice the argument to convince someone of an accepted fact.  You find yourself simply repeating "But the world is round." They respond with, "No its not...look at the horizon.  You can see the end of the world."  All you are left with is the tame response "But it is round...really".

The point of this post is that you cannot always assume that other managers understand basic principles. When you seem unable to convey your point or gain agreement ask yourself if it is because they understand but disagree...or if they are starting from a set of false assumptions.  Because in my experience that is the case more often than it is not.