Recently I had an employee meeting to discuss some changes to retirement plans and pay. We are stopping one kind of plan — hence the stop sign, starting a different kind, hence the green light, and then upon seeing the screwdriver, some shouted “And then we get screwed!”

I had intended it to convey the notion of tweaking/fine tuning/small adjustments, but that is not what happened. Fortunately we have a great relationship so we were all able to laugh, and proceed with the explanation of how no one was getting screwed.

I feel so fortunate that my poor choice of a symbol didn’t prevent us from making these great changes.

Two lessons: Think through the symbols you choose to communicate important messages and build great relationships so that you can survive your gaffes.