Ever give your employee exact instructions…
Only to have the result come back completely different?
“I Told Her Exactly What to Do…”
A client just said to me on the phone:
“I told her exactly what to do… so why did it come back wrong?”
This was his most recent hire.
He’d been burned by bad hires before.
But he couldn’t figure out why the same problem kept happening.
When “Up” Doesn’t Mean What You Think
That reminded me of something from when my son was little.
His very first word was “up!”
Or so we thought.
My wife and I would flip the light switch up, saying the word out loud.
One day, he finally said “up,” and we were ecstatic!
But here’s the thing: to him, “up” didn’t mean up.
He thought it meant light.
So we’d walk into another room and he’d say “up” until we turned the light on.
Same word. Different meaning. Total misunderstanding.
This Happens in Business Too
That’s exactly what was happening with my client.
He thought he was giving clear directions.
But his employee was interpreting them differently.
He expected “done” to mean fully complete, client-ready.
She thought “done” meant draft-finished, polish later.
Both thought they were aligned.
Neither one was.
Why the Same Problem Keeps Showing Up
It’s not just employees.
You can give a client clear deliverables…
Only for them to ask why it’s not what they expected.
You can give a partner exact steps…
Only to find out they misunderstood the goal.
You can say the same word—“up”—
but if they think it means “light,” you’re headed for confusion, delays, and dropped balls.
Example: You send a project brief to a contractor, saying “Make sure it looks polished.”
To you, that means client-ready.
To them, it means good layout, content okay, final tweaks later.
How We Solved It
The good news?
Once we created a shared vocabulary and structure,
he no longer had to chase or double-check.
His employee knew what “done” meant.
And just three months later, he told me:
“I’m not overwhelmed. Clients are happy, the team is happy, and I’m having fewer meetings. Everyone’s getting what they’re supposed to do done.”
What You Can Do Right Now
✅ Train your people in your language—
but also learn theirs.
🔁 Keep checking: does “up” mean up…
or does it mean light?
Because communication creates shared reality.
So Let Me Ask You…
Where in your business are you giving exact instructions—
to employees? clients? partners?—
but getting back something completely different?
Where “up” really means “light,”
and it’s eating up your hours and slowing growth?
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