This is no debate about policy. It’s one person’s indiviudal example of how context frames the thinking tsurrounds a course of action. In contrast with the current President, the president-elect frequently outlines context.Providing context is not necessarily rare, but in an era where brief is the new long — in communications — it’s good to consider how your going to provide context. Whenever one has a responsibility to execute and in doing so affect others, there are two types of communications required. One, in the broadest sense, is purposeful. The other is context. Purposeful communications can be everything from marketing to instructions.
Whether the message is about a new product, a change in the organizational procedures. Purposeful communications is about what to do, how, why, when. In addition, it’s information aiming to affect perception, change attitudes. But context communications is different.
Context is the surrounding environment , background or settings, which determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event, as defined in the Wiktionary.
I was struck by this just recently when President Bush addressed the nation for the last time. For me it was an unusual peek into the context surrounding some of his decisions. I found myself thinking I wish more of this had been done during the past eight years. Not to say the President had never given reasons, but he was seldom invited us to reason togehter.
Photo by Michael “Mike” L. Baird
