Key Distinction · 07
Communication — Intentional & Effective
Don’t ask permission — state your intention clearly, and make sure the message lands.
¶Intentional Communication
You might have heard the old saying: “Don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness”. Intentional communication is a special form of communication.
Instead of saying: “Can I build a new pricing structure for this product?” consider saying: “I intend to build a new pricing structure for this product, the reason is […], once ready I will brief Product, Sales and Finance and will report back here with next steps.”
This is the opposite of operating from a position of seeking approval, which is a “lean back”, passive approach to operating — to a lean forward, active position.
Intentional Communication is the practice of speaking your intention clearly and giving the team an opportunity to chime in where needed. You are never blocked.
¶Effective Communication
Effective Communication is the practice of communicating in such a way that the intended message lands with its intended recipient.
You sending a message is not communication; you saying something on a call is not communication. Only once your communication has been heard and acknowledged, as intended, was the communication effective.
If you feel like this sounds very similar to Complete Work you are right! It is in the same vein. The best way to let someone know that their communication was properly received is to “recreate” it in your own words (e.g. “So if I understood you correctly you are saying […]”) with the sender responding with a variant of “That’s right!”.