The Problem Around the Problem
October 10, 2026
When it comes to dealing with complex work, I believe the problem is often only half the problem.
The other half is how you communicate it.
If every update focuses only on what is broken, delayed, or unresolved, people quickly begin to feel that nothing is working. Progress disappears from view. A manageable set of issues starts to look like a failing project.
Good communication does not hide problems. It gives them proportion.
What has been achieved? What remains? What is genuinely at risk? What happens next?
The facts may not have changed, but our understanding of the situation has.
That matters because people react not only to reality, but to the picture of reality they are given.
This is not about telling a better story than the facts allow. It is about telling the full truth, not just its worst parts.
Sometimes the work is progressing better than the story around it suggests. In complex work, communicating the whole truth is part of managing the work itself.
