Most communication problems show up late in the process.
They appear as unclear messages, confused audiences, misinterpretations, or public pushback. By the time anyone labels them a “communications issue,” the real cause is usually already locked in.
The failure happened earlier.
Communication is often asked to compensate
Organizations frequently turn to communication when something isn’t landing. The assumption is that the message needs improvement. Clearer language. Better visuals. A different tone.
But communication cannot fix what hasn’t been decided.
When goals are vague, when audiences haven’t been agreed on, or when leadership hasn’t resolved tradeoffs, messaging gets asked to smooth over unresolved work. At that point, the role of communication shifts from explanation to compensation.
That’s where problems begin.
Where breakdowns actually originate
In practice, most communication failures trace back to one or more of these conditions:
-
The objective wasn’t clearly defined
-
Multiple audiences were assumed to be “the same”
-
A decision was deferred instead of made
-
Risk was avoided rather than acknowledged
-
Internal alignment was assumed instead of tested
When these issues exist, communication becomes unstable. Messages change. Language hedges. Explanations expand. The work gets louder instead of clearer.
None of that is a creative failure.
Why creativity gets blamed
Creativity is visible. Decisions are not.
When something goes wrong publicly, it’s easier to critique the message than to revisit the process that produced it. Visuals can be changed. Words can be rewritten. Decisions are harder to reopen.
So communication absorbs the blame for failures it didn’t create.
This is why many organizations feel stuck in revision cycles. The message keeps changing because the underlying intent was never settled.
The role communication is meant to play
When decisions are clear, communication becomes straightforward.
It doesn’t need to persuade internally.
It doesn’t need to hedge.
It doesn’t need to explain around gaps.
It simply carries intent from one place to another.
Good communication doesn’t perform clarity.
It reflects it.
What actually reduces communication problems
The most effective communication work often happens before a single word is written.
It looks like:
-
forcing clarity around what is actually being decided
-
narrowing audiences instead of expanding them
-
acknowledging constraints instead of hiding them
-
deciding what will not be said as deliberately as what will
When those things are in place, communication becomes smaller, not bigger. Fewer words are required. Fewer corrections follow.
The takeaway
Most communication problems are not creative problems.
They are decision problems that surface late.
Treating them as messaging issues only delays the inevitable reckoning. Treating them as decision failures gives communication something solid to stand on.
Clarity doesn’t start with words.
It starts with choosing.