--- title: When the output is wrong, a part is defective source: https://talkforimpact.com/writing/when-the-output-is-wrong/index.md lastmod: 2026-10-12 --- # When the output is wrong, a part is defective The corrections you keep making are not maintenance. They are the Interpretation Gap showing itself. {{< img src="img/writing/when-the-output-is-wrong/01.jpg" alt="The Ford Model T production line, in linocut style" caption="" >}} You made the point five times. You’re about to make it a sixth. You’ve probably had to explain the strategy for a third, fourth or fifth time to the same person or team. They nodded and seemed to understand, but ultimately what you get is not what you expected from them. So you say it again like a broken record. ## We run the organisation like a 20th-century production plant In this model, if the output is wrong, there must be something flawed in the process or the machinery. We find the faulty part, we fix it and another repair has to be made the time after that. So every correction becomes maintenance. When the output is wrong, we look into three places: communication, team and organisation. We might think, "My communication is not effective" or "I need to work on how I speak", so we start by taking coaching classes and we involve the communications team to become clearer, to deliver greater energy or to sound more authoritative. But this all rests on the assumption that we are the faulty part. And after that, even if the message was crystal clear, the output is still not what we desired. We start looking down the line, into our team. They were on board with everything and they seemed to have understood. Are they not trained correctly? We then provide more training, and bring in HR to confirm the team’s abilities. Once again, we’re correcting a defect. And when it still doesn’t work, we check the organisation as a whole. If the strategy doesn’t translate into reality, the most alarming diagnosis is that there’s a fault in the structure. Redesigning the entire operating model will cost us time and money, with no guarantee it will fix the problem. There are plenty of consulting products on the market that promise to fix whatever we determine is the problem in the workflow. This logic made sense for factories like Ford, for a chain where each component was linked to the next in a linear process and everything was planned to the smallest detail to avoid any defect. In a production line like that, the problem had to be either unclear instructions, an inadequate worker or a badly designed system. ## It’s not a machine made of cogs. It’s something organic. We inherited that model from the Ford assembly line. We need to put that logic behind us if we want to turn words into results. Think of the organisation as an organic structure. It’s made up of human beings. People don’t simply do what they’re told just because we give clear instructions. They receive our message and interpret it. Our employees adopt, alter, resist or even reject the message for a number of reasons. All the alterations that people make to the message, whether it’s about the strategy itself or how it is carried out, shape the outcome. These changes have a real impact and they happen while the strategy is presented to the different layers of the organisation. In other words, the message gets interpreted several times by different groups of people, and every time it passes along it gets reworked in two ways. Firstly, the group receives it in a framework specific to the person or team. Then the same group carries the information over, reframing it for themselves and their own team. What we need to do, as leaders, is look at the changes made to the message as part of the process, rather than something defective. We can think of the changes as data. By doing so, we can observe how the message travels across layers and use those changes to our advantage to lower the chances of the message drifting out of control. ## Ask before you correct again Notice which topics you find yourself correcting more often. That’s likely where the drift takes place. The next time you see the strategy shifting away, check in with each layer of the organisation. Do not ask "Was I clear?", ask "What did you get? What will you do as a result?" instead. Look into how they interpreted the strategy. Start with the level closest to you and ask each person there: what did you get of my message? How will you carry it out? That way you can compare their answers to your intention, then you can repeat the same check with the next layer of the organisation and the next, so you’ll be able to see where and how the message changes. This is important data you need to reconstruct how the message moves through the organisation, so that you can reframe your message to limit misinterpretations before they build up. ## People can underperform, but it may not be them Someone could point out that some employees are underperforming. And that is a fact. But I would argue that it’s the minority. There are people who possibly don’t get it. However, before putting the burden on them, we can check how the message evolves. We might discover that the fault doesn’t lie with them. If different teams go in different directions after the same message, it is the interpretation of the message that we should look at. We need to understand what is influencing the outcome. If someone is underperforming, check what they actually took from the message. If they interpreted it correctly, but they’re struggling to deliver it, we might be looking at a training issue. If they’re repeatedly interpreting the message differently from what was intended, the problem may be in how the message is travelling rather than the employee. ## Each correction is the gap manifesting itself Checks and adjustments are not a maintenance cost, nor are they repairs of something defective. The way the message shifts as it moves down the line is exactly the Interpretation Gap made visible. Our job is to keep that gap as small as possible, because within that gap we have a say in how we’re interpreted. Think back to your last quarter. Ask yourself, "What has been the message that I had to repeat time and time again because it was drifting?" Then go and look. ## Find out where you stand What message have you corrected most often this last quarter? [Take a Snapshot](https://app.talkforimpact.com/try/snapshot?utm_source=website&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=when-the-output-is-wrong): six questions about your last high stakes moment in front of your people, to see where your message may be drifting.