That word, Listen.

Listen means (from http://www.dictionary.com) to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; give ear; and to pay attention. Synonyms of this words are hear, attend, hearken, and Sir Barry.

I do not know about other students in my class, but when I attend class discussions, I am more attuned to principles instead of merely the facts taught. After all, it is the principles that matter more when you get to (or for you to get to) anywhere.  In the case of my class with Sir Barry Barrientos, amidst the plethora of Organizational Communication wisdoms we get from him, a standing principle shines, and that principle is summed up in that elementary word, Listen.

I call it elementary because the word Listen is one of the first few words I learned growing up. Having been a hyperactive soul, my mother always told me to listen when she was teaching me how to write my name, cursive. Listen was the word my elementary school teachers used to tell me whenever they catch me chatting with a seatmate. Listen to the cry of the masses, say the heroes. Listen to your heart, says Mulan. Listen, says Beyonce. Everyone tells us to listen, reminding us, as if this elementary thing is easy to forget.

And perhaps it is, you know, easy to forget, for had it been like breathing to us, I do not think we will not have this much divorced marriages, this much dysfunctional government policies, and this much companies pleading for bailouts. And if only organizations learn to listen, the world would not need Organizational Communication people like Sir Barry. He teaches us that, implicitly, listening is a skill underhyped and underestimated. If only that word, Listen, can have its rightful place in the earth, what a wonderful world we would have.

Imagine if organizations learn how to listen to their employees, leaders would find out that they have more potential inside their organizations than what minimum wage could give value for. I believe that, given the chance, members of organizations can give to the company more than they are paid for. Learning organizations (like Google which calls its branches as “campuses”, and Walt Disney, which gives its people a portion of their office hours for “dream time”) are living and kicking proofs of how giving members more voices (or more pairs of ears) in the organization can propel organizations into a larger pool of opportunities than what can be gathered from a closed boardroom.

Imagine if organizations learn how to listen to their customers, leaders would gain partnerships. I believe that, given the chance, customers give more ideas for innovations than a bunch of spying strategies on competitions. There is definitely no voice more valid than the ones you want to please, which are, for organizations, the consumers. More than merely a detached end in the business chain, customers can become valuable creative minds for the business.

Imagine if organizations learn how to listen to dynamic ideas, leaders would find breaktroughs. Web 1.0 takes a more revamped look and sense of significance with Web 2.0. Now more than ever, the web becomes more relevant for organizations. The ideas that this new web promises can be very radical, as a traditional organization might find them. At the onset, the ideas of blogging, tweeting, wiki-ing, and SEO-ing for business can seem to be tiring, even costly. Listening, however, does not cost a penny. Listening and learning about how new ideas can benefit organizations does not have to mean embracing all of them, but it is the openness that is the start. For better things, and for breakthtoughs even.

So how do organizations “Listen”? Easy. Start shutting up. And make the boardroom wall-less. Easier. Hire an Organizational Communication professional. But seriously, it is the principle that is the gold. Unless organizations master that word, listen, hardly will they be able to get to any other words such as success, or profit, or siginificance. Sit, soak, and save the wisdoms. And then that is when we go ye. Listening does not get any more feasible, beneficial, and rewarding than this.