So, What Do I Do Tomorrow?

The mystery is that we can't get perfect communication. The answer to the mystery is that we don't need perfect communication. We just need to get close enough, often enough.

To become more comfortable with the ideas in this chapter, think about what sort of person would be able to understand your system's design from the available design documentation.

Notice the following kinds of communication events:

• People around you are blissfully unaware of missing each other's meaning in communication. Notice how often they manage to get by anyway.

• Someone gives you overly vague instructions, so you can't catch the meaning.

• Someone gives you overly detailed instructionsso detailed that you can't listen.

• The people at your next meeting, speaking from different vocabularies, reach to touch into different experiences.

• People in a different field rely on very different shared experiences to convey information economically.

• Your waiter writes instructions for the cook in the back when you order a breakfast of "Two eggs over easy with hash browns, whole wheat toast, coffee." Ask to look at the order sheet. He probably wrote something like "#3 oe ww" (menu item #3, over easy, whole wheat).

Notice how inefficient it would be if everyone had to break down their communications into units that could be understood by anyone walking by on the street.

Notice the level at which you are reading different topics in this book.

If you read this chapter at Level 1, work to get comfortable with the notion that the design documents don't contain all the design information. Get comfortable with the notion that experienced designers communicate in shorthand.

If you read this chapter at Level 2, experiment with conveying your system design using UML, design patterns, and references to previous designs. Watch the effects on your colleagues, and notice at what levels they are operating in the discussions.

If you read this at Level 3, see if you can communicate these ideas to someone else.