Communication is the Job

Leadership impact happens exclusively through creating artifacts and verbalizations that affect other humans

Boz (Andrew Bosworth)
Making Meta | Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth (CTO)

Communication is the Job

"If you want to have an impact on the world around you, it is exclusively done through the creation of artifacts or verbalizations that affect other humans. That is all there is." - Boz

What It Is

This framework reframes leadership and impact as fundamentally communication problems. When something goes wrong—a project fails, a deadline is missed, work comes back incorrectly—the root cause is almost always a communication failure, not a competence failure.

The framework draws from the military concept of "extreme ownership" and applies it to professional communication. You cannot not communicate—your silence, your absence, your facial expressions, your clothes, your org chart—everything sends signals that others interpret.

How It Works

The framework has several core components:

1. Take Extreme Ownership of Communication Failures When work comes back wrong after six months, that's your communication failure, not just the worker's understanding failure. When a deadline is missed because someone was blocked, that's a communication failure about expectations and escalation paths.

2. Understand That Everything Communicates

  • Org charts are communication devices (they signal hierarchy and where to go with problems)
  • Silence communicates trust, expectation, or abandonment
  • Not checking in has meaning
  • Physical presence, tone, facial expressions all send signals

3. Match the Message to the Audience Good communicators start by understanding where their audience is mentally and emotionally, then craft their message to bridge from that starting point to the desired endpoint. This requires:

  • Understanding mental models of specific people (managers, team members)
  • Understanding mental models of general audiences (teams, the average human)
  • Adapting modality to match how people absorb information

4. Use Multimodality and Repetition "Repetition never spoiled the prayer." Effective communicators:

  • Say things directly, then use metaphor
  • Give all-hands talks, then write posts covering the same content
  • Address fears and concerns up front before sharing conclusions

How to Apply It

  1. Before any important communication, ask: "Where is my audience starting? What do they already believe? What are they afraid of?"

  2. Address concerns up front - People won't listen to your conclusions if they think you don't understand the context. Start by acknowledging the issue.

  3. Use multiple channels - Different people absorb information differently. Give the presentation AND send the written summary.

  4. When things go wrong, ask yourself: "What could I have done differently in terms of how I communicated for this to have gone better?"

  5. Recognize your constant communication - Even when you're not explicitly communicating, you are. Your absence from meetings, your delayed responses, your facial expressions—all send signals.

When to Use It

  • When a project fails or comes back wrong—diagnose communication first
  • When preparing important presentations or announcements
  • When you're frustrated that people "didn't listen"
  • When designing systems, processes, or org structures (they're all communication tools)
  • When you feel like you've "already said this"—saying it once isn't enough

Source

  • Guest: Boz (Andrew Bosworth)
  • Episode: "Making Meta | Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth (CTO)"
  • Key Discussion: (00:51:41) - Full exploration of why communication is the core job of leadership
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

Back to Communication