Most problems are information problems
A specific claim: nearly every failure - in product, in business, in life - traces back to someone missing a piece of the puzzle. Fix the information flow and most of the rest follows.
Here is the claim, stated plainly: most problems are imperfect-information problems. Misunderstandings at work, crossed wires at home, products that miss - strip them back and they’re usually someone working from an incomplete picture.
The information gap
Imagine perfectly rational actors, each making the best possible decision given the information they hold. (I studied economics; I believe about half of it.) Knowledge work pays you for the quality of your decisions. So where do bad decisions come from? Sometimes you simply slip - a lapse of attention. But outside of that, most failures reduce to a missing piece of information.
A tough pay negotiation: if you and your manager both knew the other’s number, there’d be no negotiation, just a handshake. A specialist doctor: you go to extract information they have and you don’t. A product that misses: you didn’t know what the customer actually needed, so you guessed, tested, and iterated toward it. The same is true of science. The work is closing the gap.
Product: speak the customer’s language
Building a product is a continuous conversation with users, whether you treat it that way or not. Every button, feature, and line of copy is a message. If users can’t understand why the product helps them, they leave. Selling a plant-based burger without mentioning it’s plant-based is a fair description of most failed launches.
Business: internal alignment
Information that flows freely is a competitive advantage. When everyone holds the same picture, decisions get made once. A company full of information silos is a ship with a thousand captains, moving nowhere. A new starter floundering because they don’t know who to ask is a communication failure with a salary attached.
Life: the same equation
Relationships run on open, honest communication - partners, friends, family alike. Most avoidable conflicts could have been headed off by one earlier conversation.
How to close the gap
- Listen actively. Don’t wait for your turn to talk; actually hear the other person. It is harder than it sounds.
- Be clear and concise. No jargon, no waffle. Hemingway, not Faulkner.
- Ask questions. A “stupid” question is cheaper than a costly assumption.
- Empathise. It is rarely about being right; it’s about being understood.
- Choose the medium. Email for the formal, a chat for the urgent, a face-to-face for the important.
The strength of your communication is not how well you said it. It’s how well it was understood by the listener. That reframing has a useful corollary: you can improve other people’s communication simply by listening harder and asking when something is unclear.
Feedback closes the loop
Communication is not one-and-done. The most important part is feedback - the engine of growth, and a two-way street. Don’t only dish it out. Be open to receiving it, especially when it stings.