What does “soon” mean?

What about “expensive”?

Can you tell me with any clarity what “I’ll get right on that” means?

Yeah, me neither, because each – and many other words we use every single day – are extremely contextual and based on myriad experiences that are unique to us.

We say things like, “I’ll have those numbers for you soon,” with the belief that we all agree on what soon means. Except, our definitions often vary wildly and we create expectations we didn’t intend to create when we aren’t specific.

Soon might mean tomorrow afternoon to you. And it might mean within the hour to me. 

Telling someone you will have those numbers “by 2PM tomorrow” sets a far clearer expectation, one that can be instantly renegotiated if the specified deadline doesn’t work.

OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTION: Review the emails you send this week for words that avoid specificity and replace them with words that are more concrete. Monitor your interactions to see if these tweaks reduce the amount of inadvertent confusion. Monitor your own workflows to see if they benefit from clearly specified agreements.