The inspiration for this post was a short presentation I gave on effective communication. To understand and counteract ambiguity, it is necessary to examine its causes.

Differences in perception and context

People have different experiences, backgrounds, and social influences that affect how they interpret things. Sometimes when you are communicating a message, the context of the message is lost. I remember watching a DVD called An Evening With Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith is a film producer and writer credited with such films as Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Dogma. Before that, he was a comic book writer who wrote a few issues of Daredevil.

Kevin was talking to a reporter friend about Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake. At the end of the film, the astronaut steps out of his spaceship and is horrified to see a statue of a giant ape behind him. Kevin then showed his friend a copy of a comic he wrote a few years before the movie. In the comic, an astronaut turns around and sees a statue of a giant ape and is horrified. The reporter is surprised and asks Kevin if he has any comments. Kevin responded as follows: “Tim Burton plagiarized me! Ha ha ha! I’m thinking of suing him! Hehehehe!” They both laughed.

Later in the week, the journalist’s article came out. He came with a very serious tone. Kevin Smith accuses Tim Burton of plagiarism… he contemplates legal action. Kevin ran to the phone and called his reporter friend, “What happened to Teeheehee!?”

That was a long story, but you can see how the context of the joke was completely lost when it was transcribed for print. When you write things (such as requirements) you can’t communicate context effectively, so you have to be very careful or it can be misunderstood.

use of jargon

Suppose someone tells you that they have just received a red herring. What does that mean? According to Dictionary.com, a red herring could be any of the following:

– A smoked herring that has a reddish color.

– Something that diverts attention from the central topic.

– A preliminary registration statement to be filed with the SEC describing a new stock issue (IPO) and the prospects of the issuing company.

– If you were working in the investment industry, you might realize this is an IPO statement, but if you didn’t, you might think of something else.

Also, you may feel like you fully understand when you don’t. This is one of those times to use active listening techniques to clear up communication problems.

Extremely excessive overuse of verbosity

Be brief. Say a lot with few words.

Summary

Now that you know the sources of ambiguity, do your best to avoid them.