There’s ability to listen and there’s ability to understand.

 

Ability to listen is how well you listen.

Ability to understand is how much you understand.

 

Most people have MEDIOCRE ability to listen.

“OK” is good.

“GREAT” ability to listen is someone who wants to hear you EVEN if he doesn’t understand.

“GREAT” ability can go a long way.

 

Great ability to listen can go a long way — it can even bridge the gap of understanding.

Unfortunately it can’t bridge it entirely.

Most people are poor listeners — so when they also have trouble understanding — they simply end up not hearing you.

This failure of communication is root of most conflicts.

Great ability to listen can remedy, but not entirely.

There must be some baseline ability to understand. Some common ground.

 

If you can’t communicate — you can’t cooperate.

If you can’t cooperate — you have to compete.

Which is a horrible waste of resources. Pointless, really.

Therefore stop wasting your time and find people who: 1) can listen 2) can understand you,

Likewise learn to listen yourself.

And finally: learn to NOT listen. If you know you won’t understand — then tell them so and stop wasting everyone’s time.