E=MC² explains the theory of relativity, but can it explain business efficiency, performance and aid business continuity?

2005 marked 100 years of one of the greatest breakthroughs in the world of science, Albert Einstein’s special Theory of Relativity, E=MC².

But the century-old key to explaining the workings of the universe may give a new insight into the importance of face to face communication in determining your business efficiency.

The “New E=MC²” for Business
The new 21st century version of the famous equation E=MC2 developed by Babel Consulting and has the following elements:

• E = efficiency
• M = motivation
• C² = two-way empathic communication

E stands for the efficiency of a business where performance is pivotal.

M is motivation like the energy of an atom, whose continuous activity is crucial for there to be performance.

But if there are too many uncoordinated atoms, zipping around in chaos, their uncoordinated activity will generate too much heat, friction, stress and/or noise, or at worst an explosion.

C² is the two way empathic communication element (the ability to understand each others motivation").

In this equation C² is the crucial calming element. Without C² the motivational energy will be potentially uncoordinated, wasteful, stressful and dangerous.

This simple statement has profound implications on business decision making, management of the ‘know-how’ (tacit) knowledge, leadership, creativity, business synergy and business continuity.

But perhaps the most profound aspect is that no matter how much motivation you have, you can never be efficient without two-way empathic communication.

Empathic Communication
Often regarded as a natural gift that too few people have and is something that cannot be easily learnt.

Many empathic (scripted) listening techniques, may sound and look like empathic listening, but these can come over as acting or worst still, insincere to the recipient.

To some, empathic communication appears illogical and to have no place in business. But sometimes what appears illogical can simply be that we do not have sufficient evidence to regard it as logical yet.

Imagine what a Stone Age man would think of a cigarette lighter – would he think it logical or illogical?

More organisations are improving their performance by improving empathic communication skills, i.e., forging the links between their most valuable assets, their staff!

The quality of this communication determines the arterial strength of every organisation’s Trust Network (see below), which in turn is often the Achilles heel of their business, as it hampers innovation and efficiency if not working effectively.

Trust Network
A Trust Network is the business’ unofficial knowledge sharing network. It’s where your business’s elusive tacit knowledge resides and hopefully thrives, rather than walking through the door when an employee leaves thereby jeopardising business continuity.

Therefore, Trust Networks are vital in any succession management strategy. A Trust Network is the network of individuals connected by trust and who share their (business) knowledge with each other, with each knowing the best person to contact.

Every business’s Trust Network will not necessarily mirror the business’s official communication lines of authority, but without a strong Trust Network businesses will struggle.

How do Trust Networks work?
Within a Trust Network the tacit knowledge is generally shared through:

• A sense of altruism
• An unwritten code of reciprocal help

Trust Networks work through recognition by people of colleagues with particular expertise.

For example, whilst person “X” may be officially in charge of the computers, most people ask person “Y” for help if they have a problem.

Consequently, managers can either attempt to squash their Trust Networks or embrace and encourage them.

Hence, the ‘kitchen factor’ is important in workplace design, as the location of the kitchen is often where the Trust Network and tacit knowledge exchanges and expands. Think how much better would your decision making be if you trusted your colleagues more?

If people don’t trust their colleagues, the Trust Network’s knowledge sharing is restricted and is less efficient. This in turn impacts on the business.

Improved Decision Making
How many times have you made a decision, and then sought the supporting evidence?  Was this illogical or logical?

Well, actually it may have been more logical than you think. This is because people have greater trust in their natural instincts (emotional intelligence) about people, than any multitude of electronic data, e-mails, letters and statistics.

If you imagine conventional data is two-dimensional, emotional intelligence is three-dimensional.

Therefore, with the increasing need for faster decisions, based on the (often all too brief) personal interaction between colleagues/business parties, our natural abilities are being placed under additional strain.

How can we make quicker decisions that we trust? You can either choose to have even more two dimensional data or choose to improve your effectiveness of communicating three dimensional information. Which would you rather have? Most would choose the latter, if it was simple.

And the good news is. . . it is now.

So how do we become more effective?
Whilst not wishing to be sexist, often woman tend to be better at understanding people than men, which is perhaps why we are seeing more women in the boardroom in these times of 24/7 decision making. But this imbalance between the sexes can be redressed with know-how and practice.

By learning, what may appear to be a slightly illogical but simple empathic communication technique, which we call the Turbo-Trust Network technique, men and woman alike can improve their intuitive abilities.

The Turbo-Trust Network technique combines psychology with physiology and creates a powerful effect.

Whilst understanding empathic communication could necessitate having to learn how our minds and thoughts work (our psychology) and what physically affects how our minds work (our physiology), at Babel Consulting this technique is learnt like learning to ride a bike.

Why, because it is far easier to learn by (coaching) experience rather than by theory alone.

To discover more about how the Turbo-Trust Network technique can improve your decision making skills and Trust Network, contact Andrew Mills on +44 (0)1302 390 777 visit the Babel Consulting website.