Pizza Hut iPhone App

Pizza Hut has a new iPhone App. The only thing I see that it is good for is ordering your food. I still prefer to order by phone.

However, they could offer an incentive to get me to use the iPhone App if they would make a modification to it. If, when I order with an iPhone, they provided real time status of where my pizza is, I would use it every time.

So, if I could track the pizza delivery guy when he left the store with my pizza, then I could tell if he got lost on the way and I would know how much longer I'd have to wait on my pie. Or if I am picking it up at the store and could see how much time is left on the oven timer, I'd be there right when the pizza is finished.

Failure to Communicate

If you want to sit on the back porch and shoot the breeze with me I'd love it. Just be prepared to expect periods of silence and know that it's okay with me if you don't spend the whole time talking. However, it's no news to me and I imagine many others whom I've worked with, that I can struggle with communication in meetings and other similar scenarios.

I decided that Failure to Communicate by Holly Weeks would be a good start to improving my communication skills in certain situations. Here's some of what I learned.

First, I realized that my communication style is just different from people who might say that I am not good at communicating. What they don't realize is, they are not always good at communicating either. They just think they are because their style can be more aggressive since I am more likely to withdraw (unless I get backed into a corner). The reason is that most conversations take on a battlefield mentality - it's you against me. Heated conversations tend end with a winner and a loser.

I've been observing others as I read this book and it's very true. Most people I've watched aren't very good at avoiding the win/lose conversations. As a competitive person, this is my biggest obstacle with communicating.

The second big take away is giving respect. I can respect the problem, I can respect myself, but sometimes I have difficulty respecting my counterpart. Weeks explains the importance of always respecting the other person in a conversation because it influences the conversation in a very positive way. It doesn't mean you agree with them or like them, but you have to at least respect them.

When evaluating failed conversations, I can remember when I failed to do this. I can also remember times where I didn't feel respected either. It does change the game, a lot.

Whether you're a good communicator or not, Weeks has some good basic tips and strategies that will help you not only help yourself, but others on your team as well.