Have you ever tried to get another person to guess a song by tapping the rhythm?

It’s surprisingly tricky to do – despite how obvious the answer might be while you hold the tune in your mind.

When it comes to communicating our needs, the same is true. We have a cognitive bias that makes us believe that others can naturally empathize with our situation and act accordingly. As a result, we hint rather than communicate what we want.

Hinting is rarely an effective communication strategy. If something is important, better to overcommunicate rather than assume the best.