Specificity through storytelling (The Pickle Story)

If you’ve been following the story of David — the contract manager at a massive tech company — you know he’s preparing a ninety-minute talk built around three critical messages:

Consistency.
Specificity.
Delegation.

This is the second story I share with him.

And like the others, it comes straight from my real life — because the small, ordinary moments are where the best business lessons hide.

So when David asks me how to teach specificity, this is the story I tell him.

“One of the things I hate most in the world is when restaurants arbitrarily and unannounced place pickles on your plate.

“You order a hot dog and fries.
You expect a hot dog and fries.
And when it arrives, there’s a giant pickle sitting on the plate.”

“They didn’t warn you about it.
It wasn’t listed on the menu.
It just appears — uninvited.”

I tell David:

“The worst thing about pickles is that they’re radioactive.
If a pickle is on the plate, everything else on the plate will taste like a pickle.
They infect everything.

“I can’t stand it.”

So now, whenever I’m at a restaurant, I look at the server and say:

“If you’re going to put a pickle on the plate… don’t.”
Because I’ve seen pickles show up everywhere — next to hamburgers, fish and chips, you name it.
I tell David:

“So don’t tell me I shouldn’t be specific.

If I’m not specific, I get a pickle.”

That’s the story I would tell.
Then I ask him:

“What story do you have where specificity was essential?”

From Pickles to Projects — Why This Matters in Business

When I share this story with leaders, I always see the same look:
Recognition.

Because everyone has gotten a “pickle” at some point — something they didn’t ask for, didn’t want, and didn’t expect… but received because the instructions weren’t clear.

That’s why this story works.

A pickle on a plate is harmless.
A pickle in a contract?
A pickle in a project?
A pickle in a client deliverable?

That’s the stuff that derails timelines, frustrates teams, and burns money.

People don’t guess because they’re lazy. They guess because they don’t know.

And if they’re guessing, you weren’t specific enough.

The Business Lesson — Radical Specificity

Most managers believe they’re communicating clearly.
But clarity isn’t defined by the speaker — it’s defined by the listener.

If you want:

• cleaner work
• fewer surprises
• fewer “I thought you meant…”
• tighter execution
• and less rework

…you must be radically specific.

A tiny story makes the lesson stick.
A pickle becomes a symbol for vagueness.

The message becomes memorably simple

Say exactly what you want — or you won’t get it.

If you want to learn how to make your messages unforgettable…

This is just one example of how a personal story becomes a professional tool.

Inside Storyworthy for Business, we teach leaders how to:

• Communicate expectations without lecturing
• Use personal stories to deliver organizational messages
• Get teams aligned without constant reminders
• Replace corporate-speak with clarity, humanity, and impact

If you want your team to stop guessing — start telling the stories that teach them how to get it right.