{"id":157,"date":"2019-10-11T02:00:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T02:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chrisharden.com\/?p=157"},"modified":"2019-10-11T02:00:26","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T02:00:26","slug":"pronouns-and-the-threes-company-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisharden.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/11\/pronouns-and-the-threes-company-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Pronouns and The Three\u2019s Company Effect."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Three\u2019s Company<\/a> was an extremely successful sitcom that ran for seven years from the late 70\u2019s into the early 80\u2019s catapulting John Ritter, Suzanne Summers, and Joyce DeWitt among others to super stardom. One of its signature story techniques was to have one of the trio overhear one of the others saying something via eavesdropping behind a couch or doorway. This would lead to the listener taking the speaker\u2019s message out of context, often due to the use of pronouns,<\/strong> resulting in hilarious misunderstandings and confusion. This premise would then lead to a \u201ccomedy of errors\u201d until the cast finally recognized the misunderstanding and all returned to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As simple as this formula was, it was magical for years. The phrase \u201cIt\u2019s funny because it\u2019s true\u201d applies here, as this same mishap occurs nearly every day via email or in-person conversations. I\u2019ve become so sensitive to it, I tend to call out misuse of pronouns nearly on the spot, and I more and more regularly encourage myself and others to refrain from using them at all in conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s an example:<\/strong> You and I are discussing something on a whiteboard with a colleague \u2013 two versions of the same screen on a mobile app (I develop software). I say, \u201cso this is the first version and this is the second.\u201d I may even point and all is well. Yet one minute later, I say \u201cthis is currently in the build\u201d. To which, you say, \u201cno, that\u2019s not in the build. I just ran that app yesterday, and I did not see it.\u201d Now suddenly it is clear to me that I\u2019m talking about one version of the screen and you are talking about a different version. Or it is not clear, and you and I go on for a couple more minutes before we realize we are not talking about the same version of the screen. We’re now slightly frustrated with each other as we move on, and the rest of the stakeholders in the room are struggling to keep up to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a more obvious example: <\/strong>\u201cMy boss told Sam, that he\u2019d better get over to Ann\u2019s office before she left for the day, or he\u2019d miss her before she leaves. He looked at his watch and hurried out the door.\u201d In that sentence, who had better get to Ann? The boss or Sam? No one will ever know, but we all made a guess in our minds.  Pronouns used in a detailed email can cause lots of confusion. <\/strong>\u201cI think this support ticket is the one we should delete, because it\u2019s a duplicate.\u201d That\u2019s effectively what was stated in a recent, very long email that had not two tickets, but six tickets. I was admittedly confused and offered up a hyperlink to the one I thought was the correct ticket. I got a reply that I was wrong and I got a link to the right ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pronouns make it too easy to confuse the subjects we are discussing,<\/strong> but it is also easy to clear (and ideally avoid) the confusion. Next time you find yourself writing an email, conversing over Skype, or face to face, listen or reread for the pronouns, and then replace every one you can with the item to which you are referring.<\/strong> You will do everyone an even better favor when you replace pronouns with the real object in all <\/strong>your daily communications. On the surface, “pronoun confusion” seems simple, but keep an eye open. You\u2019ll be surprised at how often the “Three’s Company Effect” happens. You will then start to save yourself, friends, and colleagues lots of confusion from your own \u201ccomedy of errors\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three\u2019s Company was an extremely successful sitcom that ran for seven years from the late 70\u2019s into the early 80\u2019s catapulting John Ritter, Suzanne Summers, and Joyce DeWitt among others to super stardom. One of its signature story techniques was to have one of the trio overhear one of the others saying something via eavesdropping behind a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discussion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t