Surely you’ve heard this before (or something like it):

I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

Of course you have! (Yeah, yeah – and don’t call you Shirley. Got it.)

A rancher I know from a small town in Arkansas shared this story…

When he first began dating a new lady friend, he decided one way to really impress her was by taking her out for a picnic, then showing off his, uh, cows. (Hey, you’ll get no comment from me – I’ve had way sillier date ideas!)

Anyway, after the picnic they were leaning over a fence, watching the herd, when he noticed a mama cow sweetly nuzzling her calf. Thinking this was the perfect opportunity to kinda nudge her into a kiss, he leaned over to her and said with a sly smile, “See that mama kissing her baby? I’m thinkin’ I’d sure like to do the same thing.”

Without missing a beat, she looked him right in the eye and said, “Well, go ahead – it’s your cow!”

The same fellow told us another story about the time he visited New York City. He and his new wife (yep – the very same lady he was dating in the above story – so I guess it worked!) stayed in one of those fancy hotels – you know, the kind with the “general” out front, opening the car doors for you?

Anyway, it was a pretty slick place; ‘way more upscale than what he was used to. But there was one thing that really took him by surprise. There’s a sign in the lobby that says: FOR RESTROOMS, USE STAIRWELL.

“Well OK,” he confided, “‘Course, it was a mite embarrassing…”

It can sometimes be hilarious when the message you think you’re sending gets all garbled in translation, and what you get back isn’t, er, quite what you were expecting.

But… what if it’s about something really important? Suppose the message is critical to you and your customers, but somehow it gets misinterpreted and the wrong message gets out? Even more sobering, what if a life depended on it?

That’s not as far-fetched as you might think, either. I have a friend whose business is designing “way finding” systems for hospitals and clinics, where having clear directions for patients, staff, and visitors can sometimes be a life-and-death issue.

It might be worth the effort to take a look at the message you’re sending out to the world. Don’t think it’s an issue? Oh, really (he said, snidely)? I gotta tell ya – the fact is, even without saying a word, each of us is still essentially a walking billboard – for how we think, what we like and dislike, and more importantly, who we are.

Perhaps it might be wise to remember this from John Weakland: “The meaning of any communication is the response that it gets.”

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For more on this subject, you may also want to check out this post: Footprints

… and what the heck, maybe this one too, from last year: Say What You Mean