Anybody that’s ever studied history has walked through the story of the dropping of the atomic bombs, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man”, by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.  This was the first and only time in history that nuclear weapons had ever been used in war. But did you know that this event might have been avoided if not for a simple misunderstanding?  The misunderstanding itself came from a poor translation.  

By 1944, the Japanese were clearly losing the Pacific and began looking for an honorable way out of further conflict. Through diplomatic channels, the United States quietly asked if Japan would be open to surrender. The thought was, if Japan gave them an opening, they could negotiate a cease-fire that preserved some of Japan’s holdings in the Pacific and saved thousands of lives. In response, the Japanese ruler used the word mokusatsu.  Now, the specific meaning of that Japanese word was “we withhold comment pending discussion”.  Like so many words in Japanese, it was a nuanced word that had a number of meanings and had to be read in context. When the response was sent to Washington, the word was mistranslated to read “we are treating your message with contempt”.  Not at all a message with an opening that the more accurate translation would have suggested. Were the Japenese open to negotiate, or was it going to be a fight to the death? We’ll never know.[1]

The mistranslation was what was communicated and spread like a wildfire through the Allied command. Undoubtedly frustrated by what he thought the response meant, and knowing he needed to respond sternly, President Truman decided that the atomic bombs were indeed the direction to go in order to end the war.  Why this message wasn’t more heavily scrutinized for any possible mistranslation seems strange. This simple mistake may have led to 250,000 people being killed, injured or exposed to radiation. One wonders if many lives may have been saved if the response had not been lost in translation.

Miscommunication in its most serious form has started and ended wars. But on an ongoing basis, poor communication by leaders on a daily basis destroys business, shatters relationships, changes directions, upends organizations and breaks confidences. A leader who is going to be effective must know how to communicate clearly. In fact, Business.com ranked the skill of communication as the most essential of all skills for business leaders:

“When you think about it, almost everything you do requires improved communications. To be effective in business, you have to communicate well. When you hire a new employee, good communication skills help you select the right person. When you communicate with your various stakeholders, you need to be clear about your expectations and to be sensitive when dealing with problems.” —Business.com

How do leaders develop their communciation skills? Let me suggest that if we learn how to communicate well with an ultimate authority, a supreme entity, that all other communication will be easy by comparison. In other words, build our skill in what must be the most difficult realm of all communication, and we will learn skills that we can apply to everyone else. That ultimate dialog is, of course, between man and God. 

We know this today as prayer. You and I can pray to God—talk to God. And God responds to our prayer. Prayer comes from a Latin word precarius meaning to entreat, or in other words to earnestly ask. This is the pinnacle of communication, between man and his Creator. And as it turns out there are many examples in the Bible we can look to when trying to understand and communicate with God. 

Moses talks to God. Other than Jesus, there is probably no more vivid example of man talking with God than Moses. In Exodus 33 we find a fascinating and unexpected conversation between Moses and God. God has been angered by the Israelites and so Moses replies “Remember that this nation is your people” (verse 13) and then, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (verse 15). I would describe Moses’ tone here as frank, to say the least. To paraphrase: “Hey God, I know you’re upset, but remember these are Your people—You picked them, not me. And if You are not going along with us any further, then we’re not going.” Any way you slice it, that’s pretty brash talk from anyone to the God of the Universe. Honestly, you should probably expect the next verse to be, “and God struck Moses down dead in his tracks.”

But it isn’t. And that’s probably because Moses and God had an interesting arrangement to talk to one another. In fact, they had been honing their communication for some time. Step back earlier in Exodus 33 and we find out where and how these talks would take place:  

“Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting.’ Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” Exodus 33:7-11

It’s that last sentence that sticks. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to a friend. So what can we learn about communicating with God through Moses? Three simple and helpful lessons:

One-on-one is important. Just as prayer is one-on-one, and Moses and God spoke one-on-one, our most important communication will always be between just two people. All-hands meetings are helpful, and some communication can be delegated to email or text, but none are a substitute for crucial one-on-one time. Man was made to communicate best when all of the subtle nuances, body language, expressions and gestures combine to fully communicate. How often have you said something in an email or other written communication that was taken the wrong way without context or subtlety? Look at how you can invest in one-on-one time with key relationships. And let this time be face-to-face whenever possible. 

Build relationships that facilitate communication. In Moses’ case, an ongoing relationship was built that led to open and honest communication. The Bible says they spoke as a man speaks to a friend. Friends are real with each other. They don’t hold back. They’re not afraid to say something wrong because they know the underlying relationship is strong. They are okay to confront, to disagree, to argue, even. And at the end of the day they find a way forward. True friendship makes for great communication. You’ll never experience that if all of your relationships are kept at arms’ length. A key to communicating well is a sense of trustworthiness on the part of those speaking to one another. And that isn’t built in a day, nor can it be demanded simply by superior rank. Rather it is found in the daily, ongoing communication of decision and deliberation, so that when the most difficult of circumstances come, there is a sense of comradere. Look for ways to develop a few key friendships for vital communication. 

Have a meeting place. One of the most interesting aspects of Moses’ and God’s conversations is that they had a specific place to meet, which they called the tent of meeting. We aren’t told who proposed the tent, what it looked like or when Moses started using it. We just know that God had a set-aside meeting place. You can learn so much about a person from their environment. Where you work, live, interact, can say much about you. Is the office bright and inviting? Are people walking around like zombies or is there a buzz of excitement? Are there many private spaces or does everyone interact in a large bullpen? Where does your counterpart prefer to meet, and what environment is most comfortable for you? Don’t overlook location to both set the tone for communication and itself to communicate characteristics and culture that may be helpful in your dialog.

Bloomberg Businessweek estimates that miscommunication costs businesses $1 billion per day in lost revenue and operational mistakes. Whether trying to gauge the needs of a customer, or communicate strategy and vision to a team, or correcting and instructing a subordinate, clear communication is paramount. Developing that skill is a daily exercise.

Looking back at Exodus 33 now, it seems Moses was not so arrogant after all. He had an honest, open relationship with God that was built on good communication. They met regularly. They came into the meeting tent as friends. Moses knew God’s nature, not from two stone tablets with rules that he brought down from the mountain, but because they had one-on-one time. The unique gift of prayer that is given to every God-follower is more than a tool to talk with God. It is a foundation for good communication. We excel at communicating with others when we take the time, one-on-one, to build trustworthy friendships in our very own tents of meeting.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokusatsu