What does it mean to listen? Do we even think of it as a skill?
It’s curious that, of our five senses, it’s hearing over which we have the least control. With touch, taste, smell and vision when external stimulus becomes overwhelming we are able to completely disconnect. Not so with our sense of hearing. Why would we (and so many other creatures) be designed in such a manner?Could it be because of the nature of sound itself?
Consider vision. Often what we look at is either fixed or changing gradually enough that we can abstract on it, in a sense, have an internal conversation about what we are seeing and how we need to respond. With vision we have the luxury of time and introspection even if just for a few seconds.
That’s not the case with sound. A sound is a “rhythmic event” that occurs in time and then is gone. It’s through memory that we determine the nuanced levels of meaning conveyed by that sound. Our capacity to listen is one of the most important aspects of our continual evolution as a civilization.
In ancient cultures, before the advent of writing all communication was oral. Jeremy Rifkin points out in “The Empathic Civilization:”
“Oral cultures rely on formulaic means of expression in order to assure memory. Mnemonic speech patterns and the use of clichés were essential ways of maintaining the store of collective knowledge. Only by repeating standard lines of thought over and over could society guarantee predictable social intercourse. But formulaic responses are generalized utterances made to fit particular circumstances. They very often don’t penetrate to the core of the unique situation at hand, and therefore don’t adequately describe what’s going on. Written language, however, allows communications between people to break out of the straight jacket of formulaic interaction. Every sentence is uniquely composed to communicate the particularity of the situation. Communication is individualized.”
In strictly oral cultures identity of the self was bound to one’s identity as part of the tribe or the community. As written language became the primary means of communication it transformed the identity of the “individual.” The evolution of communication from simple to more complex technologies strengthens our self- awareness and deepens our understanding of the core connection that exists between all people.
Communication in our emerging global culture is an amalgam of every medium we have ever used in our history. With the advent of the web we are, in effect, again becoming an “oral” culture; a global community in which all stories and ideas (and media) are shared in real time. But Rifkin’s observation on the failure of formulaic content to convey meaning becomes troubling when we consider what organizational development scholar Nancy Adler calls the “dehydrated language” used in so many of our organizations today. More troubling is the intentional manipulation of language for nefarious purposes by politicians and power brokers who have attained positions of leadership.
Listening to our world is an act of engagement. Recent experiments in the field of quantum physics have demonstrated that the act of observation is an intervention that determines the specific path an event will take. By listening we engage with the world in a way that changes both ourselves and the world we interact with. If improvisation means the capacity to engage action that is unfolding around us in a directed manner, drawing on whatever people, ideas, and resources are available, then listening is the primary skill of improvisation.
In jazz, the way we listen has an immediate effect on the unfolding of what is happening in the ensemble. We are improvising together and our listening and actions are inseparable. The most important skill we can practice in jazz is empathic listening.
Empathic listening is a term that comes not from the field of music but from the field of conflict resolution. Empathic listening in conflict negotiation acknowledges the validity and authenticity of “other.” It brings trust to the ambiguous and uncertain nature of the relationship. To listen empathically is to suspend your own assumptions and prejudices about the situation in order to allow the emergence and sharing of diverse ideas. In jazz (and in organizations) empathic listening is an essential precursor to any process of innovation.
Like any skill, empathic listening is strengthened through constant practice. How do we practice this kind of listening? In conflict resolution empathic listening is developed by being mindful of one’s attentiveness to what is being said and taking care not to interrupt when the other is expressing their ideas; a willingness to let the other parties lead the discussion; the use of open-ended questions and the ability to reflect back to the other party the substance and feelings being expressed.
Our spoken language is a powerful tool for improvisation. We use it to articulate shared beliefs, new ideas and the negotiation of boundaries that exist between individuals and institutions. Spoken language conveys rational logical thinking. But in its nuance of tone and rhythm, language also has the beauty of music. Language often conveys its deepest meaning through its visceral qualities of tone, pace, volume. But, like music, it is ephemeral- it, too, happens in time.
The skill of listening begins by understanding that every verbal interaction no matter how significant or insignificant is an improvisation the outcome of which is dependent upon our awareness.