What Codenames Can Teach Leaders About Effective Communication

As a leader, communicating effectively often requires you to consider the perspective of the people you’re communicating with. Taking a step back to think about what they know, what context they may be missing, and how they might interpret what you say can help you communicate more effectively and achieve the outcome you’re working toward.

This is harder than it sounds because each of us brings a unique perspective. It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that other people will interpret a situation the same way you do.

As an avid board gamer, I’ve found that Codenames illustrates this particularly well. In the game, several words are laid out on the table, and one player gives a short clue meant to connect a few of them. Their teammates then try to identify the intended words.

As the clue giver, the connection can feel obvious because you already know which words you’re trying to connect. But your teammates may see an equally convincing connection to a completely different word. They aren’t necessarily reasoning poorly; they’re working from a different set of associations. Knowing the intended answer makes your own reasoning seem far more obvious than it is to anyone else.

People can interpret the same exact information completely differently. Take a moment and let that sink in. As leaders, we often have far more context about a decision than the people who are affected by it. We know why our priorities changed, what tradeoffs we considered, what alternatives we thought about, and more. But our teams may only hear about the final decision.

That difference in context leaves room for interpretation. When people don’t understand why something is happening, they try to make sense of it with what information they have. Sometimes they reach the conclusion we hope for. Other times, they fill the gaps with assumptions that have little connection to the situation at hand.

Before I send an important announcement, I try to think about how it will be received by my audience. What questions will they have? Am I leaving my messaging open to interpretation? Is there some context I should include for clarity?

Considering another person’s perspective also means thinking about how the message should be delivered. A written announcement may be appropriate for a regular update, but a decision that significantly affects someone’s role, team, or project really deserves a direct conversation before others hear about it.

My personal rule is: the more someone is personally affected by a change, the more important it is to speak with them directly.

This works both ways: just as people may misunderstand our actions or communications, we can misunderstand theirs. It’s easy to judge others by their actions while judging ourselves by our intentions. When someone’s actions don’t align with my expectations, I try to start by assuming positive intent so I can better understand their perspective.

This gives me a better starting point: the other person is probably trying to do good work, even if I disagree with their decision or approach. Their actions must make sense from their perspective, and I can’t know what the other person was thinking without talking to them. I ask questions, listen carefully, and do my best to understand their version of events before reaching my own conclusion.

Assuming positive intent doesn’t mean ignoring poor conduct or avoiding accountability. It means resisting the urge to invent a motive before having a better understanding.

Going back to the Codenames analogy, the connection can feel obvious to the person giving the clue because they have all the relevant information. Leaders can fall into the same trap. We know the context, the reasoning, and the intended outcome, but the people we’re speaking to might not. The same is true when we interpret other people’s actions: without understanding their perspective, it’s easy to fill in the gaps with assumptions about their motives. Keeping this in mind has helped me check my assumptions and be more thoughtful about how I communicate.