When Exactly What They Asked for Isn't What They Wanted

 

There’s a specific kind of silence that happens right after you deliver a project you’re proud of. The kind where the client is reviewing it, nodding slowly, and you can feel the shift before they say a word. 

Then it lands: “That’s not what I wanted.”
And your brain fires back with equal conviction: “But it’s exactly what you asked for.”

Both statements are true.
And that’s the moment I learned that clarity isn’t guaranteed just because instructions exist.

Clients often describe the task, not the intention. They articulate what they think will get them the outcome, not the outcome itself. And unless you stop to translate the request into its real-world consequences, you end up building the wrong thing perfectly.

After enough of those moments, I changed my approach.

Now, when a client asks for something, I don’t take the request at face value. I translate it forward. I walk it to its logical conclusion and reflect it back:

“What you asked for will result in X, Y, and Z. Is that what you want?”

Sometimes the answer is yes; they just needed confirmation.
Sometimes the answer is no; what they actually need is A, B, and C, but they didn’t know how to articulate it.

That single step has saved entire projects.

• It surfaces assumptions before they become problems.
• It turns vague requests into aligned expectations.
• It shifts the dynamic from order‑taking to collaboration.

And it reinforces a truth I wish I’d learned earlier:
Translation isn’t about repeating what someone said.
It’s about revealing what they meant.

The more I practice this, the more I see translation as a core part of strategic work, not an add‑on, not a courtesy, but the mechanism that protects time, trust, and outcomes.

It’s not glamorous.
It’s not loud.
But it’s the difference between delivering a task and delivering the right result.