Perhaps comedian and old friend Emo Philips said it best when he uttered this literal handful--a mere five words!--of concise wisdom:
"Ambiguity is the Devil's volleyball."Three times this week I saw it happen.
To be clear, I three times this week saw what happens when things ain't clear.
--I saw a hard-worked, lengthily-negotiated business agreement almost come crashing down because both sides thought the other was responsible for the next step.
--I saw an A-plus level fundraiser thrown into a state of peril because of miscommunication over the featured attraction's commitment.
--And I saw a solid friendship teeter because of poorly explained expectations over timing and location of multi-family Spring Break vacation.
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard rain... (I digress, but Dylan fans get what I mean.)
Given the state of modern technology, there's no excuse anymore for "he said/she said" or "I thought you meant..." arguments. Our electronic workshop provides us with a plethora of tools--email, voicemail, synced calendars, web reminders...I can go on for hours--that allow us to plan, to share plans, to confirm plans and to cover our asses five times over with Teflon and Kevlar and other bullet-proof materials.
That said, there's little or no excuse anymore for anything BUT clarity.
It sounds pedantic and obvious, but clarity is the lubrication for progress. Life works so much better with an "I get it!' than with a "Huh?"
Problem is that rather than being met with a demand for an explanation, most vagueness is met with interpretation, which leads to further uncertainty, which...well, you get the drift.
So what did I learn this week?
Be precise.
Say what you mean.
And confirm that what you meant to say is what is understood.
Get it?
If not, well...it's your serve.