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The Growth Note | The Invisible Barrier

Read it. Feel it. Do something with it.

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Hey you,

George Bernard Shaw once said:

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

That illusion is everywhere — in boardrooms, sales calls, even family conversations. And it costs more than we think.

This week, I want to share a principle from Chapter 2 of my upcoming book, Capitalizing Conversations. I call it The Invisible Barrier.

It shows up when we walk out of a meeting thinking everything went well… only to realize two days later nothing moved forward. Words were spoken, heads nodded, but something broke between what was said and what was done.

And sometimes, the cost of that illusion is staggering.

The Haunted Mansion Illusion — When Silence Costs Millions

Disney doesn’t do “small.” When they built Tokyo Disneyland, every attraction was a multimillion-dollar bet. One of the crown jewels was the Haunted Mansion — designed by Imagineers down to the last eerie detail. Dust on the bookshelves. Furniture left crooked. Cobwebs stretched perfectly across corners and chandeliers. None of it was accidental. Every detail was art.

The night before opening, the Imagineers finally left the attraction for a few hours of sleep. Then the cleaning crew came in.

Room by room, they worked with precision. They swept, vacuumed, polished. They wiped down chandeliers. They dusted furniture. They cleared every cobweb in sight.

By morning, the mansion gleamed. Sparkling floors. Shining brass. Crisp curtains. It looked immaculate. Perfect.

Perfectly wrong.

When the Imagineers walked back in, their stomachs dropped. Months of design, artistry, and attention to detail — erased in a single night. The haunted house no longer felt haunted. It felt like a freshly opened hotel lobby.

And here’s the kicker: no one had done anything malicious. The cleaners thought they were doing their jobs. The designers assumed it was obvious what needed to stay. Nobody clarified. Nobody checked.

The result? An attraction that had to be scrambled back into “haunted” shape at immense cost, embarrassment, and delay.

The Haunted Mansion is more than a quirky story. It’s a warning. When communication gaps, misalignment, and assumptions stack up, even the smartest teams can destroy the very thing they’re trying to build.

3 Culprits of the Invisible Barrier

1. Communication Gaps — What you think you said vs. what they actually heard.

Leads to confusion disguised as agreement.

2. Misalignment — When agreement is assumed but priorities, expectations, or context are different.

Leads to wasted effort pulling in opposite directions.

3. Assumptions — The silent killers; both sides fill in missing details with their own version of the truth.

Leads to costly surprises when reality surfaces.

2 Quotes to Reflect On

“The single greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

“Assumption is the mother of all mistakes.” – Eugene Lewis Fordsworthe

1 Stretch for the Week

Think of one recent conversation where you assumed alignment — but the outcome proved otherwise.

Write down what you could have asked in the moment to surface the invisible barrier.

Then, commit to using that question in your next conversation.

If this week’s Growth Note hit home, forward it to one person who has ever walked out of a meeting only to wonder later: What just happened?

More soon — until then, speak boldly.

—Kamryn

Beyond the Note

I work with founders, professionals, and teams who want to speak with confidence, lead with clarity, and grow through intentional communication.

→ Book 1-on-1 coaching

→ Bring me in to speak at your next event

→ Explore more tools and frameworks

Big things are coming soon — like my first book and online trainings. Stay tuned.

P.S. Know someone who needs this kind of weekly stretch?

Forward this email or send them to The Growth Note signup page.