Our founder Zak Mandhro breaks down why most "communication problems" are actually context problems. When product decisions scatter across different tools, teams aren't struggling to communicate; they're struggling to maintain shared reality. The coordination tax is invisible until you see it. Then you can't unsee it.
Most conversations I have with founders and engineering managers start the same way: "We need to get better at communication." After a few questions, it usually becomes clear they are not dealing with a communication problem; they are dealing with a context problem. Last week I watched a founding team chase a single product decision across Slack, a Linear ticket, a GitHub PR, and a Figma comment. Four tools. Three people reading it differently. No shared reality. The people were solid. Motivation was not the issue. On paper, the process even looked reasonable. The problem was fragmentation. I have watched this pattern repeat for years across Deloitte, Google, my own voice AI startup, Apple, and now dozens of startups. The moment context splinters, people start carrying the coordination load themselves, and everything begins to drag. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. The question becomes what changes when work and communication finally live in the same environment. No Delays. No Rework. No Busywork.