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PaperclipPerfector  28d ago (text post)   2242 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 31, 2026

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In your experience what percentage of "[more/better] communication" as a diagnosis or remedy in a social context is an effective or appropriate one? I think it's uncommon these days.

  • Perceived or real problem occurs
  • Something Must Be Done
  • That something, it is decided by problem seers, problem makers, or decision makers must be more communication. If we communicated more we'd be able to avoid perceived or real problems such as this.

One common example of this phenomena goes something like above. If you're still not picking up what I'm laying down consider the following:

  • The powers that be fuck up, or an individual does, and the people below them are impacted and/or angry. An unstated social negotiation occurs where the people either realize there was a failure in communication, or they are manipulated into accepting more communication as a fix from the powers that be.

"Bob, next time we will communicate fuck ups changes to you in advance which will prevent these types of future fuck ups problems that impact you."*

  • Game developer/Coca-Cola releases unpopular patch/drink, gamers/consumers riot, demands are put forth, reversals are made, and the developer/Coca-Cola issues a press release agreeing that more communication should have been done.

More Communication the platitude, tool, and HR seminar is a lie. In contexts where More Communication is a social lubricant, language to demand conciliatory notions or more respect from the powers that be, why can't we just ask for that? Who decided we should wrap "communication" into such things? Stakes vary between context, but the mechanics of communication are important. Most people are shit at communicating, and even those who hold an unusually innovative communication super power are still shit at communicating with someone competent. We shouldn't be muddying that precise failure up with population level memes.

"Shut the hell up, Bob. We can circle back to this fuck up problem until the cows come home, but are you really going to disagree with moving forward with More Communication?"

Napoleon didn't deploy the More Communication meme after the Battle of Aspern-Essling, did he? Maybe he did. Even so, I maintain that More Communication is too overloaded and watered down. A meme that can mean an apology is in order, the radio failed and no one sent a runner, management sucks, or no one is going to be holding the bag for the latest fuck up-- this must be a warcrime against autists. Whoever made the Communications B.A. what it is has a lot to answer for at the Hague.

It might technically be the correct diagnosis but I've never been in a situation where more communication has been the solution.

The issue is almost invariably that management refuses to listen to complaints about some issue and then when shit hits the fan they hit back with the genius solution of "we need to communicate more". No, you need to actually listen more but you won't do that because the time horizon of the thing in question becoming an acute problem is too long for you to risk meaningful personal consequences. You can just move on to a different role/employer and let things implode behind you.

I've seen this both from the perspective one one of the people that is being ignored and as a consultant coming in to make sure it doesn't happen again (it will happen again).

Whenever "we need to communicate more/better" comes up I'm reminded of the final scene in burn after reading.

"We need to communicate better" is the kind of shit you trot out when no-one wants to accept accountability. It's a form of managerial corruption where everyone agrees to look away so that no-one risks getting blamed for the issue at hand or similar things in the future. It's organisational rot in the form of a conspiracy of mutual ignorance and diffused responsibility.

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