BETWEEN US: The Communication Project

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When Understanding Breaks Down – Between Us: The Communication Project

Every day, we speak with the belief that our meaning is obvious — that the words we choose will land the way we intend.But meaning doesn’t travel intact. It’s built in real time, shaped by emotion, history, uncertainty, and the tiny slivers of information people actually receive.And when understanding breaks down, the consequences aren’t just confusion — they’re mistrust, fear, and the sense that institutions or individuals “aren’t being clear,” even when everyone is trying their best.On this episode of Between Us, we explore why misunderstanding is so common, why clarity is so fragile, and how people and organizations can rebuild alignment when messages drift.In This EpisodeWhy two people can hear the same message and walk away with entirely different interpretationsHow uncertainty, fear, and cognitive load shape the way families and communities “fill in the gaps”Why information alone isn’t enough — and why communication must be relational, not transactionalWhat sensemaking looks like inside school systems and public agenciesThe role of repair in communication: how to rebuild trust after misalignmentJoy’s practical insights from working in districts where clarity is essential, and misunderstanding has real stakesThis Episode’s GuestJoy Moyers is a Public Information Officer based in Orange County, California. She works in K–12 public education, helping districts navigate complex communication challenges — from everyday updates to high-stakes moments involving safety, policy changes, and family concerns.Joy holds an M.S. in Public Relations, Innovation, Strategy & Management from the University of Southern California (USC). Her work draws on systems theory, relational communication, and sensemaking to help organizations understand how messages land, how interpretations form, and how to rebuild clarity when breakdowns occur. She believes communication is not merely the transmission of information, but a social process that shapes trust, culture, and community alignment.Resources & LinksRecommended reading on systems theory, sensemaking, and organizational communication (curated at thecommproject.com)Follow Between Us wherever you listen to podcastsHost / Producer: Travis SoudersGuest: Joy Moyers© 2025 The Comm Project

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Who Gets to Sound Proper? (Dr. Sergio Fernando Juárez)

When Understanding Breaks Down (Joy Moyers, M.S.)

Systems theory has many applications and extensions, including across communication scholarship and into public relations, where Joy operates. Though they share similarities, the traditional Palo Alto Group model of systems theory (and its related extensions) are quite different in practice than the PR model of systems theory.

In the Palo Alto tradition — the one a lot of interpersonal and relational scholars build on — a “system” is really the pattern of interaction itself. It’s the back-and-forth, the habits, the misunderstandings, the meaning we co-create without even realizing we’re doing it. Communication is something we build together in real time; “one cannot not communicate.”

In public relations, “systems theory” shows up in a different way. Organizations are treated as open systems that have to pay attention to what’s happening around them — families, staff, media, politics, crises — and then adapt. The focus is on scanning the environment, understanding expectations, and staying aligned with the people you serve.

There’s overlap in the language — feedback, interdependence, environment — but the work looks different. One version zooms in on relationships and meaning-making; the other zooms out to look at how organizations survive and stay credible in changing conditions.

In practice, Joy ends up straddling both worlds. She’s watching the small, human patterns of how people make sense of things, while also helping the organization adjust to the bigger system those patterns reveal.