I was recently introduced to the work of Finnish researcher Osmo Wiio and how relevant it is to the global events of today.

His seven basic laws are:

  1. Communication usually fails, except by accident. Moreover:
    • If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the most harm.
    • There is always somebody who knows better than you what you meant by your message.
    • The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.
  2. If a message can be interpreted in several ways, it will be interpreted in a manner that maximizes the damage.
  3. There is always someone who knows better than you what you meant with your message.
  4. The more we communicate, the worse communication is andthe faster misunderstandings propagate.
  5. In mass communication, the important thing is not how things are but how they seem to be.
  6. The importance of a news item isinversely proportional to the square of the distance. 
  7. The more important the situation is, the more probable you have forgotten an essential thing that you remembered a moment ago.

Depressing as these rules are, they ring very true! However, it helps us to remember that good communication is 90% listening and only 10% telling.

©️David Clutterbuck, 2026