I f*cked up...

Clear communication is hard. A single word can make a big difference.

Author

Ale Gnoli
March 20, 2024

Shortly after publishing yesterday’s post I got a reply from a reader. They were confused about the last sentence in the post.

> “Why?” is the most powerful question a captain can ask. Always start with the why.

Isn’t it the most powerful question a captain should be able to answer instead of asking?

I might remember my “start with why” wrong, but in the book the Why is being answered by leaders more often than asked, IIRC.

When I read this message, my heart sank. Twice.

First, I couldn’t believe that people are actually reading my posts all the way to the end. 🤣

Second, I realized that, rushing to get the email out, I forgot to type one, crucial word in that last sentence.

❝

“Why?” is the most powerful question a captain can ask themselves. Always start with the why.

One word. Just one word and the meaning of that last sentence was completely changed.

What I meant to say is that we, as Captains, should ask ourselves “Why?” and strive to find a meaningful answer. Doing so forces us to think about the deeper purpose of what we are doing. That purpose is what inspires others around us and propels us to achieve it.

This episode reminded me of how important clear communication is as a captain and how hard it is to do it right.

There are two insights to be captured here:

  1. It doesn’t matter how hard we try to communicate clearly. We can always do better. Sadly clear communication takes time. Sometimes we need to push the send button and settle for “good enough”.

  2. If we are on the receiving end of unclear communication, we should strive to be kind. We should remind ourselves that communicating clearly is hard and assume positive intent. We should then ask for clarifications with genuine curiosity.

-Ale

P.S. What did you think about this post? Reply to let me know. You can also leave me anonymous feedback.

P.P.S. As you might have noticed, this email came a little later. I’m experimenting a bit so expect the time you receive these to fluctuate in the next few days.