Easy
Reminder: The easier you make it for your audience to speak about your idea, the more likely it becomes that they actually do.
It’s not your audience’s job to figure out how to spread your idea.
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Grand visions for 2024
Grand visions for 2024 are a dime a dozen.
The actual challenge is to patiently distill the essence of your vision and effectively share it in a way that resonates deeply with your team, investors, and customers.
What do you see exactly? Can you articulate it? Can you get really specific about what you see for the future?
But also, do you listen carefully? To your team, the market, and even to your inner voice?
Are you open to feedback and different perspectives, which can refine and sometimes even challenge your vision?
Do you understand how your vision aligns with the values, aspirations, and needs of your team, investors, and customers?
This specificity is a powerful tool. Because the clearer you see something, the better you can articulate that thing in a way that others see it, too.
When you’re able to articulate your vision with the clarity that allows others to see it, too, it transforms from a personal dream into a collective journey that everyone is invested in.
What do you see?
Where are we headed?
3 fundamental questions that leaders who light the path address in their team communication:
1. Where are we headed?
Helps the team understand the destination they are working towards. Gives a sense of purpose and direction, ensuring that everyone is aligned and moving towards the same target.
2. Why there?
Explains the rationale behind the chosen direction or goal. It provides context and reasoning, which is crucial for team members to understand the significance of their work. Helps in building commitment as team members are more likely to be motivated if they know the purpose behind their tasks and how it contributes to the bigger picture.
3. Why us?
Highlights the unique skills, capabilities, and contributions of the team, fostering a sense of importance and belonging. Addressing the role and significance of the team in achieving the set objectives, boosts morale and instills a sense of responsibility and ownership among team members.
Where are you headed?
The Zip Line
Alex: For my last talk, I had a grand entrance on a zip line to give a wow effect.
Casey: That’s daring! What was the feedback?
Alex: They all loved the entrance, but asked if I could zip out and back in with some clearer points.
Casey: Ah, the difference between a flying start and a landing thought!
—
Wow effects get you only half-way there. Change happens when you lead your audience all the way to a profound aha moment.
Submarine in a desert
Recently at Confused Corp, the world market leaders for unclear instructions and perplexed employees…
In a performance review, a manager told an employee, “Your work is on the right track, kind of like a train, but not on rails, more like a boat… but also not on water.”
After the review, Bob asked Alice, “So, am I a train or a boat?”
Alice sighed, “You’re more like a submarine in a desert.”
—
How much better was the feedback that you got in your last performance review?
Confronting toxic vagueness
No more beating around the bush.
In the corporate jungle, toxic vagueness is not just a nuisance; it’s a predator, lurking in the ambiguities of communication and leaving trails of confusion and frustration.
But how can you confront toxic vagueness and make clarity the norm, not confusion?
First, cut through the fog. When faced with vague instructions or feedback, don’t just nod and walk away. Ask direct, pointed questions. “What specific features do you want in this project?” “Can you clarify what ‘innovative’ means in this context?” Make it clear that generalities won’t cut it.
Second, write it down. When it’s written on paper (or a screen), you can clarify it.
Third, if you’re in a leadership position, set the example. Be clear, be specific, and expect the same from your team. If someone (really: anyone) doesn’t understand a term, enforce clarification. If required, send them back to the drawing board. Fostering a culture of clarity starts at the top.
Fourth, encourage open discussions where questions are welcomed, not frowned upon. Create an environment where clarity thrives, and vagueness withers.
Finally, address the issue head-on. If there’s a chronic offender of toxic vagueness, don’t let it slide. Bring it up in performance reviews or one-on-one meetings. Frame it constructively: “Your feedback often leaves room for interpretation, which can lead to misunderstandings. Let’s work on being more specific.”
Toxic vagueness thrives in the shadows of unspoken expectations and unchallenged ambiguities. Turn on the light. Demand clarity. Cultivate a culture where clear communication is the norm, not the exception.
The era of beating around the bush is over. Let’s get to the point!
Painfully unclear
Derek, a senior manager, is a man plagued by his own insecurities.
Tasked with overseeing the development of a new software application, he finds himself in a position that demands decisiveness and clarity – qualities he sorely lacks. In his world, commitment equates to risk, something he avoids at all costs.
When assigning the project to Emily, the project manager, Derek’s instructions are frustratingly vague. Phrases like “make it innovative” or “ensure it’s user-friendly” slip easily from his lips, but they are hollow and devoid of substance. Deep down, Derek is terrified of being specific. He fears that committing to any particular direction could backfire, leaving him exposed and vulnerable to criticism or failure.
Each time Emily approaches him for more detailed guidance, Derek feels a wave of anxiety. Her requests for clarification are not just questions in his eyes; they feel like threats, cornering him into making decisions he’s desperately trying to avoid. So, he deflects with more generalities, cloaking his fear under a veil of managerial jargon. “Think outside the box,” he says, a phrase as meaningless as it feels safe.
In the days that follow, Derek watches from a safe distance as Emily and her team pour their energy into the project. He keeps his involvement to a minimum, the ambiguity of his instructions being his safety net. When Emily sends drafts hoping for feedback, Derek’s replies are ghostly whispers of guidance, “Looks like you’re on to something,” he types.
The day of the presentation feels like walking a tightrope over an abyss. As the prototype is unveiled it becomes painfully clear that it’s not what the VP expected. Derek’s heart races.
In a desperate bid to protect himself, Derek resorts to what he knows best – avoidance of blame. “This isn’t quite what we envisioned,” Derek hears himself say. He invents a feature, a lifeline woven from thin air, claiming its importance was implied.
As he deflects the blame onto Emily and her team, Derek feels a twisted mix of relief and guilt. His cowardice has saved him, but at the cost of others’ efforts and trust. He watches as Emily and her team grapple with confusion and disillusionment. Their pain and disappointment are palpable, but to Derek, they are a necessary sacrifice for his own preservation.
The aftermath is chaotic. The team, demoralized by the criticism, must go back to the drawing board, causing significant delays in the project timeline. The lack of clear direction from Derek not only led to wasted effort and resources but also eroded trust within the team. Team members start hesitating to make decisions or take initiative, fearful of unseen expectations or changing goalposts.
—
That’s toxic vagueness, my preferred term to describe the intentional use of unclear or ambiguous communication as a strategic weapon to evade responsibility and accountability. It thrives in environments that care more for whose fault it was than how to find a solution. It nurtures insecurity and frustration.
Profoundly simple
There’s a fine line between trivial and profoundly simple.
One is generic (“Just believe in yourself!”), while the other offers concrete guidance and acknowledges the underlying complexities of individual experiences.
One strips the subject of its nuance and depth, while the other breaks down complex issues into clear, understandable segments.
One repeats common knowledge, while the other offers unique perspectives or insights, simple yet enlightening.
One stops at the ‘what’ and ‘how’, while the other expands on the ‘why’ behind.
One offers snackable content, while the other offers food for thought.
One assumes the audience won’t understand more complex ideas, while the other considers the audience smart.
Find your way
Recently, at Confused Corp, the world market leaders for unclear instructions and perplexed employees.
A strategy retreat, employees navigating a literal maze.
HR Lead: Our new strategy is like this maze. Find your way, find our vision!
Team Lead: I’ve been stuck at a dead end for an hour.
HR Lead: It’s symbolic of our complex journey!
Apparently, getting out of the maze can be a challenge on multiple levels.
Is life logical?
Maybe not, as Arno Geiger points out:
“The inclination towards logic in literature is nothing but a prejudice against life. In the many collections of letters and diaries, I have never come across a logical person, let alone a logical life story, neither in my everyday life nor in any of the major collections.”
Arno Geiger is a well-known Austrian writer who, for decades, has collected collections of letters and diaries from trash. The above is one of the core findings he shares in his memoirs about the lessons he learned during that time.
And it might explain the struggles we often have with making sense of other people’s actions (or our own): There might be less logic in our actions than we feel comfortable admitting.
Which, in turn, causes communication challenges when we try to find the sense in things that don’t always make as much sense.
What’s easily overlooked is that logic is only one aspect of human life. Often, it’s not the deciding factor for the choices we make, at least not the only one. Which means that focusing solely on logic in your communication misses out on a big part of many people’s lives: the emotional, intuitive, and sometimes irrational aspects that are equally vital in understanding human behavior and decision-making.
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