Two project managers sat in the same recovery meeting, describing the same problem with the same word: “Our project is stuck.” They both said, nodding in agreement. The executive sponsor was ready to throw resources at the problem until communication expert Caitlin Walker asked one question.
What she discovered shows why so many solutions fail before they start: the two managers weren’t describing the same problem at all.
In our previous article, we saw how “committed” meant opposite things to two executives, nearly destroying their strategic vision. But vague language creates problems everywhere, even with seemingly straightforward terms like “stuck.”
The Live Demonstration
Walker recently demonstrated this with two leaders facing stalled projects. She asked them both the same simple question: “When a project is stuck, stuck for you is like what?”
Leader A responded: “We would probably hit a roadblock. Something is making the project grind to a halt. We’re not making progress, we’re not doing anything productive.”
Leader B responded: “It’s like your feet are in the mud and you just can’t move them forward. That big, wet sticky mud that just sucks your boot down. You can take your foot out of the boot, but the boot still stays in the mud.”
Same situation. Same word. Completely different experiences.
Two Solutions That Would Never Work
When Walker asked what they’d like to have happen, the differences became even more revealing.
Leader A wanted to “overcome the roadblock or open the roadblock like a blockage. I would like to unblock that thing.”
Leader B wanted to “wash the mud off my boot, pick it up out of that mud, and then walk forward on firm ground.”
Here’s the critical insight: Leader A’s solution focuses on removing an external obstacle, while Leader B focuses on cleaning up and regaining a better footing.
If you tried to implement A’s approach for B’s version of stuck, it wouldn’t work; there’s no roadblock to remove when the problem is trapped and needs to be cleaned up before moving forward. The solutions are fundamentally incompatible because they solve different problems.
Why Different Metaphors Reveal Different Problems
These aren’t just colourful ways of describing the same thing. As Walker explains: “The misunderstanding of us imposing how we experience the world onto our teammates, especially when we’ve got diverse processing, can lead to arguments because we don’t actually understand where the other person’s coming from.”
One leader experiences “stuck” as a block to forward motion. The path exists, but something’s in the way. Remove the obstacle, and movement resumes.
The other experiences “stuck” as being trapped without solid ground; the problem isn’t what’s ahead but what’s underneath. You need to extract yourself and find a stable footing before you can move at all.
What would have happened without clarification:
Leader A would view Leader B’s solution as unnecessarily cautious: “Why are you wasting time ‘cleaning off’ when we just need to remove the roadblock?”
Leader B would view Leader A’s solution as recklessly ignoring root causes: “Pushing through won’t help when we don’t have solid ground to stand on.”
Neither would understand they’re working from completely different models of the problem. The conflict wouldn’t be about the best solution but fundamentally different understandings of what “stuck” means.
This Happens Constantly in Organizations
Walker points out similar patterns everywhere:
- Someone says they need “support”, but does that mean guidance, resources, or decision-making authority?
- A team reports they’re “overwhelmed”, but is that too many tasks, unclear priorities, or insufficient skills?
- Leadership calls for “innovation”, but are they thinking incremental improvements or disruptive changes?
Each misunderstanding leads to solutions that miss the mark because they’re solving the wrong version of the problem.
How to Prevent This
Walker’s approach is deceptively simple: before jumping to solutions, spend two minutes understanding what people actually mean.
Ask: “What kind of stuck is that?” Then ask: “What would you like to have happen?”
Using their exact words, these questions reveal the internal model they’re working from. With Leader A, you discover you’re dealing with blockages and need to focus on obstacle removal. With Leader B, you discover you’re dealing with unstable conditions and need to focus on stabilization first.
As Walker explains: “You can use the metaphors as a mediator between the internal world and real life.” Once you understand someone’s metaphor, you can ask: “If you want to wash your feet, what would be happening in real life that would be an example of washing that mud off?”
The metaphor becomes a bridge to concrete solutions that actually match how the person experiences the problem.
Start Here
The next time someone says a project is “stuck,” “blocked,” “stalled,” or uses any vague term, pause and ask:
“What kind of stuck is that?”
Listen for the metaphor in their answer. Are they describing:
- External obstacles? (roadblocks, barriers, walls)
- Internal constraints? (trapped, stuck, bogged down)
- Directional confusion? (lost, spinning, going in circles)
- Energy depletion? (stalled, dead, running out of gas)
Each metaphor suggests different solutions. Understanding the metaphor first prevents you from implementing solutions designed for someone else’s version of the problem.
Because here’s the truth: two people can use the same word and be describing completely different problems that need completely different solutions.
Next in this series: The two-question rule that prevents conflicts before they start and why it works even with the most heated disagreements.
About the Expert
Caitlin Walker (PhD) has spent 25 years adapting clean language for business contexts. She works with leadership teams worldwide to improve communication and prevent the costly misunderstandings that derail projects and strategies.
Want to learn these techniques? Join Caitlin Walker and Wayne Hetherington for the free webinar “Clean Questions – The Antidote to Micro-Aggressions” on October 20, 12:00–1:00 PM EST. Register here →
Caitlin will also bring her expertise to Toronto in February 2026 for an exclusive leadership intensive. Follow us for updates.