Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 060
Surprise is not evidence of improvement
Departures from communication norms attract attention, but outcomes depend on the baseline, interpretation, relationship, and ethical boundary
Premise
Communication is judged against expectations about timing, tone, distance, formality, disclosure, eye contact, response speed, and interaction sequence. Judee K. Burgoon’s Expectancy Violations Theory explains why departures become salient and can outperform ordinary conformity—or produce disproportionate damage.
For executives, novelty has no intrinsic value. An informal CEO video may feel authentic to one workforce and unprofessional to another; unusual transparency may signal confidence or lack of preparation. Leaders should identify the actual audience baseline, anticipate competing appraisals, and monitor response rather than assuming that an unexpected format will create engagement.
What the model is: Expectancy Violations Theory in Knowledge →
Continue in the series
- The essential model
- Why this matters
- Risks and limits
- Executive takeaway
- Key questions
- Selected sources
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- FamilyModel
- CategoryTheories & Explanatory Models
- DomainConversation & Relationships
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Theories & Explanatory Models
Explains how or why a communication process works by relating mechanisms, conditions or variables. Its value is an account that can guide inquiry into what produces an outcome, rather than a name for the outcome alone.