Labels are important—they affect our expectations, and our expectations affect our experience.
For instance, today my wife found a recipe labeled, ‘strawberry cupcakes.’ She was looking specifically for a recipe for strawberry cupcakes, so she went ahead, followed the directions, and made a batch.
Now, what came out wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. The texture and taste were much closer to oat bran muffins than to strawberry cupcakes (and no, oat bran was not one of the ingredients). And although this may not seem like a big difference, if the recipe had been labeled differently, we wouldn’t have tried it. But because it sounded like it was what we were looking for, in the end we were let down because the end result didn’t meet our expectations.
Whether it be in our work, services, or commitments, we will have opportunities to communicate what we’re going to deliver. And it’s important that we do so in a way that is both accurate and achievable. It’s much better to convey realistic expectations on the front end, than to have people disappointed down the line.