The Semaphore Flag Signaling System
A fascinating way of disseminating information, the semaphore tower was first implemented in 1792 at 556 stations over France for the primary source of communication for military and national applications.
The structure’s design had two large towers with a single crossbar between them on which were two pivoting arms. The combination of positions between the crossbar and arms equaled 196 characters. Those characters could be combined to created thousands of codes.
This method eventually evolved to the positioning of smaller flags and was used for communication between naval vessels for hundreds of years (even Napoleon used one version).
There were two critical downfalls of the semaphore system. First, it offered no secrecy. Second, it was practically invisible at night or during heavy fog and rain.
The semaphore train system of a hundred years ago (when a train must wait before entering a single track until the semaphore permits travel) might sound similar to semaphores in multithreaded computer programming in which a thread waits for permission to proceed and then signals that it has proceeded by performing an operation on the semaphore.
Here are some Communication Red Flags :
1. Conflict avoidance. Humans, by nature, either confront conflict or bury it. “Most people don’t have an agreement on how to talk about hard issues when they are both ready to talk,” Farmer says. “Then the problems get worse and worse.”
Determine how each team member best deals with conflict, then make sure the conflict isn’t allowed to fester
2. Avoiding Eye Contact
3. Explosive conversations. “When anger triggers anger, you have two people angry at the same time and nobody is listening,” Farmer says. Problems cannot be solved unless both parties have their turn in the listening role.
“The only time that anger works in a conversation is when you have someone who is a good listener,” he says. “Good listening de-escalates anger as the angry person can’t stay angry, they want to be understood.”
4. Asking questions with out waiting for an answer
5. Criticism and negative comments. “A relationship needs to be 9/10 positive,” Farmer says. “If the ratio gets anywhere close to 50-50 it will seem like its 90% negative. You need to work overtime on building a relationship with positives. Then the occasional jerk behavior is no big deal.”
6. The persons conversation always revolves around them.
7. Bad apologies. All people make mistakes that require a heartfelt and sincere apology. “But, a lot of people don’t know how to make a good apology, so people hold on to resentment,” Farmer says. “That resentment is a way of getting even for past troubles.”
The UC Moment : Identify and pay attention to your red flags
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