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What is Pumpkin Chopping?

Communication goes hand in hand with interpretation. For example, what would you think if I said “I am going to a pumpkin choppin’?” Would you think I am making pork chops with pumpkins (like my friend Mark)? Or would you think that I am destroying pumpkins?

If you thought the latter of the two, you are correct. It is annual event held at a friend’s house the weekend after Halloween, when pumpkins are plentiful. Everyone brings their leftover Jack-O-Lanterns and has a heyday with them – we slice, smash, stomp and utterly destroy them. It is a great stress reliever and good for the environment, as all the pumpkin bits are donated to local compost piles.

The power of interpretation was made clear this week when CIG participated in a teambuilding exercise. The exercise started by splitting the group into two teams. In a glorified game of “telephone,” we were required to communicate with fellow team members on how to replicate a structure using Tinker Toys – without ever seeing it. When the outcome was revealed, the structures built by the two teams were drastically different, based on how the “builder” interpreted the instructions they were given.

The varying outcomes could be based on lack of communication or miscommunication, but it is important to realize that people interpret even simple instructions differently. What may seem like second nature to one, can be a bit more complex to another, and vice versa.

This exercise reminded all of us that, when communicating, it is best to break information down into smaller, more manageable nuggets of information before moving forward. I think this is a skill on which everyone can improve. It is so easy for someone that is close to a certain topic, industry or issue to forget that others are not as informed as they are. Sometimes it is best to take a step back and answer the fundamental questions, who, what, when, where and how.

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