Communication - Nothing Else Matters Without It

Author: Dustin Crossland

02-19-2024

Imagine a football team where every player is doing what they think is best on any given play without talking about it in the huddle. Care to wager on how many Super Bowls they would make it to? The best quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, etc. will look like absolute garbage on the field if they’re just left to do their own thing. Now, think about the communication failures you’ve experienced in life. How many times could conflict have been avoided if both sides practiced more transparency and open communication? How many times have you acted a certain way because you assumed something about a person only to eventually find out you were way off target?

Meaning well (in personal relationships) or doing good work (in your professional life) isn’t enough.

Marketing

Imagine you create an incredible product that can change the world, or at least your industry. Do you think everyone is notified telepathically when you finish the final touches? Unfortunately, they aren’t, so regardless of the quality of your product, you have to make sure you’re getting it in front of the right people. Without the right people seeing your product, it won’t have a single ounce of impact.

Working as a team

Have you ever worked on a project where one or more person is non-communicative about their part of the project? It can become especially problematic when your task depends on the completion of someone else’s task. Planning becomes impossible and the rest of the team starts wondering if that person doing anything at all. They could be doing incredible work, but if they don’t communicate, you and the rest of the team can’t help but feel frustrated. This frustration often leads to conflict and poor results that could have been avoided with better communication. When working on a team, regular updates and discussion are paramount to success. The most elite team member will accomplish next to nothing without proper communication.

Relationships

Poor communication is often stated as one of the top reasons people get divorced. Without open and honest communication, the other person starts piecing together what everything you do means. Given that humans are predisposed to anxiety, the interpretations of your actions tend to lean negative. Of course, this goes both ways. Instead of assuming the worst, you should communicate with your partner and see if the way you are interpreting things reflects reality or just your personal anxieties. The best, well-meaning people can get divorced when communication breaks down.

Customer Service

Imagine you have an app you use to run your business and one day a feature isn’t working quite right. You reach out to tech support, and you hear nothing back for 2 weeks. No one acknowledges your message. No one lets you know they’re working on a resolution. In essence, you’re left completely in the dark until 2 weeks later when they let you know the issue has been resolved.

Now imagine over the same 2 weeks, tech support is in constant communication, giving you updates on their progress and letting you know when you can expect the issue will be resolved. Which scenario gives you a better impression? I would wager the second scenario makes you more likely to have positive feelings about the company - maybe even enough that you would recommend the company to a friend. The first scenario, however, leaves you frustrated and unlikely to ever recommend that company to anyone else.

What’s important here is nothing actually changed in regards to the ultimate outcome. In both scenarios, it took 2 weeks to resolve, but you as the user had a very different experience depending on the communication you received.

I think this is a point that a lot of high performers don’t fully appreciate. They can be very outcome-oriented and end up neglecting the human aspect. Lack of communication frames the same outcomes entirely differently. Communication can be the difference between an incredibly positive interaction with a team member, friend, spouse, or company - or a relationship-destroying interaction, even if you meant well or delivered the same outcome in both scenarios.

The key takaway

Without clear communication, nothing else matters. The best product will fail, the best people will get divorced, the most elite team members won’t accomplish anything, and resolving customer issues will still end in a 1-star review. Just like you might sharpen the saw by reading or practicing your craft, you must also ensure you can communicate effectively with everyone involved or the sharpest saw will never get a chance to cut a single piece of wood.