{"id":3546,"date":"2026-01-06T05:15:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utpal.net\/blog\/?p=3546"},"modified":"2026-02-23T10:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T10:38:14","slug":"ambiguity-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/ambiguity-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ambiguity Tax: Why Vague Language Costs You Millions."},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">There is a hidden tax on every project. It is called the <b data-path-to-node=\"6\" data-index-in-node=\"57\">Ambiguity Tax<\/b>. It happens when two people use the same word but mean different things.<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"7\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7,0,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"7,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Boss:<\/b> &#8220;I need this done ASAP.&#8221; (Means: By Friday).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"7,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Employee:<\/b> &#8220;I&#8217;ll do it ASAP.&#8221; (Means: Whenever I finish my current task, maybe next Tuesday).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7,2,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"7,2,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The Result:<\/b> A fight on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\"><b data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The &#8220;Jack&#8221; Paradox<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">In the original post, a manager says: <i data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"57\">&#8220;Jack is responsible for the module.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"9\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,0,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"9,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Jack thinks:<\/i> &#8220;I code my part.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,1,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"9,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Peer thinks:<\/i> &#8220;Jack does most of the work.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,2,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"9,2,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Manager thinks:<\/i> &#8220;If this module fails, I am firing Jack.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">This is not a &#8220;Communication Problem.&#8221; This is a <b data-path-to-node=\"10\" data-index-in-node=\"49\">Definition Problem<\/b>. We rely on &#8220;Low-Resolution Words&#8221; (Responsible, Lead, ASAP, Better, Fast) because they are comfortable. High-Resolution Words (Accountable, Owner, By 5 PM, &lt; 200ms latency) are scary because they leave no room to hide.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11\"><b data-path-to-node=\"11\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The Protocol: High-Resolution Speech<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11\">To eliminate the Ambiguity Tax, you must increase the resolution of your language.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\"><b data-path-to-node=\"12\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">1. Ban &#8220;Soft&#8221; Words<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\">Words like &#8220;Soon,&#8221; &#8220;Better,&#8221; &#8220;Handle it,&#8221; and &#8220;Review&#8221; are banned from the lexicon of a Sovereign.<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"13\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13,0,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"13,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Bad:<\/i> &#8220;We need to improve performance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13,1,0\"><i data-path-to-node=\"13,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Good:<\/i> &#8220;We need to reduce page load time from 3s to 1.5s by Oct 15th.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\"><b data-path-to-node=\"14\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">2. The Briefing Back-Check<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\">Never ask: <i data-path-to-node=\"14\" data-index-in-node=\"38\">&#8220;Do you understand?&#8221;<\/i> (People always say Yes to avoid looking stupid). Ask: <i data-path-to-node=\"14\" data-index-in-node=\"113\">&#8220;How do you interpret what I just said? What are your first 3 steps?&#8221;<\/i> When they explain it back to you, you will spot the bugs in their understanding immediately.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15\"><b data-path-to-node=\"15\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">3. The Dictionary of Done<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15\">Every project needs a <b data-path-to-node=\"15\" data-index-in-node=\"48\">Glossary<\/b>.<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"16\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16,0,0\">What does &#8220;Done&#8221; mean? (Code committed? Or Code deployed and tested in Production?)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16,1,0\">What does &#8220;Urgent&#8221; mean? (Drop everything now? Or do it by EOD?)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"17\"><b data-path-to-node=\"17\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">#DhandheKaFunda:<\/b> <i data-path-to-node=\"17\" data-index-in-node=\"17\">Vagueness is the refuge of the incompetent. Specificity is the language of the master.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a hidden tax on every project. It is called the Ambiguity Tax. It happens when two people use the same word but mean different things. Boss: &#8220;I need this done ASAP.&#8221; (Means: By Friday). Employee: &#8220;I&#8217;ll do it ASAP.&#8221; (Means: Whenever I finish my current task, maybe next Tuesday). The Result: A fight [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[52,106],"class_list":["post-3546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blueprint","tag-communication","tag-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/61.notredamme.com\/utpalmv-v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}