Communicate Or Else

Let’s face it, there are a lot of things that slow the work down, put a halt on progress and negate any efficiency measures that you have in place.  But one of the most overlooked ways that this happens is the lack of communication.  For some reason, there is always something that keeps one department from explaining what is going on in another department and when it comes time for somebody to stand up and take responsibility for whatever it is, they are afraid to do it.  
This lack of communication makes something that could easily be taken care of, easily explained and turns it into something that is out of control.  This means that some men and women are getting not enough information, can not make the right decisions because the information is being held back from them, whether it is on purpose or not is probably up to debate.  And then when a problem arises, it turns into a crisis because all of a sudden it is much bigger than it should have been.  
It's quite possibly because at that point, the stakes are much higher and somebody is afraid for their job.  So the lesson which can be learned, maybe the lesson that should be learned is that there is no excuse for not communicating with your coworkers, other department, bosses and even suppliers.  Let’s say that you are having a problem with a certain supplier, nothing that should harm the relationship, but something that keeps it from running as smoothly as it should.  
This minor inconvenience could just be something that comes up once in a while, something that is more annoying than anything else.  But then suddenly, a question arises from a higher up, maybe your boss.  What’s the first thing that you do?  Do you explain that you didn’t mention the challenge to the supplier and do you explain the situation in a way that will make you look like you did not think it was such a big deal? 
Or do you throw your supplier under the bus and back the bus up a couple of times to save your skin?  More often than not, the bus is going to be pulled out the garage to save your own skin, but that's from lack of good communication.  If you could have explained and communicated what you did not like or what was not working instead of acting as if nothing was wrong, that relationship could have been spared.