The coordination of action can only come through a coordination of meaning.1 If we cannot coordinate meaning, we cannot be sure of our actions. Most Types of conversation create this sharing, however it is action as Concernful activity which benefits most.

Sometimes I can coordinate with things left unsaid, because shared meaning is already present.

In emergency situations, I may wait for someone to speak first. I’m giving them responsibility for creating shared meaning.2

Footnotes

  1. Sieler (2003), Coaching to the Human Soul (Volume I) > Chapter 5 - Listening The Unacknowledged Dimension of Language

  2. Cialdini (2021), Influence