I surmise that a significant percentage of communication issues in the workplace are of this type. It's not always 'clear communication' vs 'unclear communication,' but 'communication style I'm familiar with' vs 'communication style I'm unfamiliar with.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-context_and_low-context_c...
The rambling could be a way to communicate some context, emotions, while you are expecting a yes/no answer, typically from a low context culture.