I like contrarian thinking, so here’s my contrarian thought of the day: I don’t think Communication is as important as people think it is… Wait, what??

You’ve probably heard the maxim that communication is key to the success of any project. And that communication becomes more important as the project (and the team) gets larger and more complex. But even if you’re a great active listener, adapt to your audience, practice reflective listening, and do all the things great communicators do, if you’re leading a large, cross-functional team on a big project, there’s a critical piece missing.

What could be more important than communication? Clarity.

Clarity leads to Unity, Unity creates Capacity, and Capacity gets the team to the goal. But it starts with Clarity.

Clarity, consistently provided, is the most important thing leaders can do — reducing the overall goal to something simple enough that everyone can see it clearly, and reaffirming that Clarity to the group. Sure, in some cases (especially in smaller teams) you’ll be wearing multiple hats: sometimes providing technical support, sometimes working hands-on alongside the team, but when you’re wearing your leader hat, Clarity is where you should focus. And the larger the team, the more critical it is for you to focus on providing Clarity.

Because Clarity allows the team to see the bigger picture, understand their role, and know that the larger team is focussed on that same goal. And it means they can remind each other when they forget. It means they’re not questioning what “that group over there” is doing. And if you have detractors, the team self corrects because everyone is oriented in the same direction. Clarity brings Unity across the team. 

Unity — the entire team aligned to that common goal — means that everyone can focus on what they bring to the project, not wonder what the purpose is. If people are wondering where they’re headed, or worse, if different people think they’re headed to different places, you squander capacity. Unity allows the team to use all of their Capacity to make progress towards the goal.

But focussing on Clarity is hard. I’ve known communication is important for ages, and I’ve communicated the heck out of things in the past. I delegated tasks, followed up, all those things you’re supposed to do. But sometimes, projects got bogged down. And when that happened, any guesses on who tended to fall into the trap of “just doing it myself”? That trap comes from the challenge of providing Clarity to a team made up of people with different roles, skillsets and personalities. And the art of providing Clarity is something that takes practice and conscious effort.

For a while I’ve been soapboxing “Clarity -> Unity -> Capacity”. Putting a focus on Clarity into practice is a work in progress, and reframing the way I think about communication has helped me as a leader. What d’y’think?  I look forward to your thoughts.