John thought interrupting was efficient communication until his wife told him it made her feel unheard and devalued. Real efficiency requires listening and respect, not just speaking faster.
There's a couple ways people accidentally interrupt others, and I'll give you one as an example. My friend John told me this. He said, Mike, hey look, I interrupt all the time because it's efficient communication. I said, John, really? He said, yeah, it works. And I go, well, I'm trying to stop interrupting, John, because I do that. I can be super energetic and think I want to jump into the conversation and accidentally cut the next person off. I have to constantly work on that because that's how I'm wired. He goes, no, no, it's efficient communication. I said, John, I don't think so. The next day John calls me back and says, Mike, I gotta tell you, I was all wrong about that whole efficient communication. I was telling my wife about it and she said, you really think that I, when you're interrupting me, feel like you're being efficient? Or do I feel like my voice doesn't matter, John? And John called to share this to say, yeah, it's not efficient when pain is being caused.
