1. Why Global Teams Still Miss Each Other

Everyone speaks English. So why does everyone still talk past each other?

You can hear it in the pause after a meeting ends — the polite silence, the awkward nods, the sense that the words landed but the message didn’t. That silence costs companies millions. Yet it rarely shows up in the risk register.

At the heart of it is what I call the Logic Gap — the hidden distance between what’s said and what’s meant.

The Logic Gap

Language carries logic, not just vocabulary. When a German engineer says “That won’t work,” it’s analysis. When a Japanese colleague says “It may be difficult,” it’s diplomacy. Both believe they’re being helpful.

The problem isn’t language fluency — it’s cultural reasoning. Each person is following a different path to reach agreement. But when those paths cross in English, the surface looks the same. The gap hides beneath the shared words.

The Meeting That Proved It

A client once asked a communication coach to observe a project review between their European and Asian teams. Everyone spoke flawless English. Halfway through, the British manager said, “Let’s move ahead with Plan B.” The Japanese lead nodded. The German analyst said nothing.

Two weeks later, nothing had moved. The British team thought “move ahead” meant implement. The Japanese team thought it meant gather internal approval. The Germans were still waiting for written confirmation.

Same sentence. Three logics. That’s the Logic Gap in action — invisible, expensive, and nobody’s fault.

Why It Keeps Happening

English works beautifully for information. It breaks down under interpretation.Our tone, our silence, even our order of reasoning still belong to our first language.When we use English as the shared tool, we carry those blueprints with us — quietly, subconsciously, always. That’s why global teams still miss each other, even when they think they’re aligned.

The Fix

The solution isn’t “speak better English.” It’s "listen beyond it."

With the MC3 Method, we train teams to recognise these logic patterns — to pause before reacting, reframe to test meaning, and redirect toward shared intent. Three seconds of awareness can save three weeks of repair.

Because when English isn’t enough, empathy is. And once you hear the logic gap, you can finally close it.