Most problems are information problems
Go back far enough in most failures and you find someone who didn't know something they needed to know. Once you start seeing it that way, you end up fixing different problems than you used to.
Most problems are imperfect-information problems. Misunderstandings at work, crossed wires at home, products that miss. Strip them back and you usually find someone working from an incomplete picture.
The information gap
Start by imagining perfectly rational actors, each making the best decision available given what they know. (I studied economics. I believe about half of it.) Knowledge work pays you for the quality of your decisions, so it’s worth asking where the bad ones come from. Sometimes you just slip and stop paying attention. Most of the rest of the time, something was missing from the picture.
Take a difficult pay negotiation. If you and your manager both knew the other’s number, there’d be no negotiation at all, just a handshake or a no. Or a specialist doctor: the entire visit exists to move information from their head into yours. Or a product that misses, where you didn’t know what the customer needed, so you guessed and tested and gradually closed in on it. Science works the same way. The work is closing the gap.
Product: speak the customer’s language
Building a product is a continuous conversation with users whether you treat it as one or not. Every button, every feature and every line of copy is a message. If people can’t work out why the product helps them, they leave. Most failed launches are a version of selling a plant-based burger without mentioning that it’s plant-based.
Business: internal alignment
Information that moves freely is a genuine competitive advantage. When everyone holds the same picture, decisions get made once instead of three times. A company full of silos has a thousand captains and goes nowhere. A new starter struggling because they don’t know who to ask is a communication failure that you’re paying a salary for.
Life: the same equation
Relationships run on open, honest communication, whether that’s partners, friends or family. Most avoidable conflicts could have been headed off by one conversation happening earlier than it did.
How to close the gap
- Listen actively. Don’t wait for your turn to talk. Actually hear them. It’s harder than it sounds.
- Be clear and concise. No jargon, no waffle. Write like Hemingway rather than Faulkner.
- Ask questions. A stupid question costs a lot less than a wrong assumption.
- Empathise. Being understood matters more than being right.
- Choose the medium. Email for formal, a message for urgent, face-to-face for important.
The strength of your communication is how well it was understood rather than how well you said it. Which means you can improve other people’s communication too, just by listening harder and saying when something isn’t clear.
Feedback closes the loop
Communication isn’t one-and-done. Feedback is the part that makes it improve, and it goes both ways. Don’t only hand it out. Take it too, particularly when it stings.