Clarity Is Not An Event

Picture this: An eager CEO stands before her team, delivering what she believes is the perfect announcement.

Her slides sparkle. Her logic flows. Every head nods in agreement — those automatic, noncommittal nods that every leader has learned to fear.

Three months later, she's pulling her hair out: "Why isn't anyone executing on our new priorities? We were all so aligned in that room!"

What she experienced wasn't failure — it was physics. Organizational communication isn't like flipping a light switch. It's more like watering a garden: requiring constant pressure, finding multiple pathways, gradually saturating the entire system. Just as water takes time to reach every root and particle, your message needs time to reach every corner of your organization.

The science of organizational change tells us something counterintuitive.

Clarity isn't a moment, it's a campaign.

Research from MIT's Sloan School of Management shows that a single clear message — no matter how brilliantly crafted — rarely creates lasting change. Why? Because organizations are complex social systems where people need to hear things multiple times, through multiple channels, to fully integrate new directions.

Think of it like learning a language (because in many ways, that's exactly what it is). You don't become fluent from one perfect grammar lesson. Instead, you need immersion: hearing it in meetings, reading it in emails, seeing it modeled in decisions, practicing it in daily work. your team needs multiple meaningful encounters with your message.

The most effective leaders treat organizational clarity as a long-term campaign. Here's their playbook:

• Start with key messages in regular team meetings (aim for at least one reinforcing moment per meeting)
• Use varied written communications, from formal memos to casual Teams/Slack messages
• Explicitly connect daily decisions to your core message ("We're choosing X because it aligns with our priority of Y")
• Share stories of early adoption and success
• Create structured opportunities for people to practice and discuss (workshops, role-playing exercises, peer coaching)
• Measure comprehension through surveys and 1:1s, adjusting your approach based on feedback

Let's be real about timelines: expect 6-12 months for any significant message to truly permeate your organization. I've seen even simple strategic shifts take 3-4 months to reach 50% understanding.

Feeling impatient?

Remember: this isn't failure — it's the natural rhythm of human systems adapting to new ideas.

The next time you have an important message to convey, don't think in terms of announcements. Think campaigns. Plan your channels. Spread your touchpoints.

Settle in for the long game. Because organizational clarity isn't about how well you say something once — it's about how consistently you reinforce it over time.

Your message isn't fighting against silence — it's battling every existing priority, habit, and deeply-held assumption in your organization's ecosystem. It's competing with years of "how we've always done things" and countless other initiatives vying for attention. Give it the time and consistent attention it needs to take root and grow.