simplify – From the desk of Adam Thomas

Get it out of your system

Communicating your taste for laypeople has an excellent side effect.

It forces you to simplify and contextualize what you’ve done.

To do that, you have to go back to your work and figure out what is important. You have to ask yourself, what do you want people to take away?

There is clarity through simplification.

An excellent time of year to try this is during the holidays.

When your family gathers around the table, see if you can explain your current project.

Take the questions they have and try to figure them out. What inspired them to ask? It is a chance to get to know someone’s worldview, and it’s useful, even if they aren’t your customer.

Don’t get defensive. Those around you want to help, and those notes they are giving through questions are perfect to take back to your workshop to improve your pitch.

It’s a great barometer for oversimplification, too.

If you want to save whales and they think you are trying to save the ocean, it’s time to reframe.

So, talk and know your product better through other’s eyes.

Your family and friends will appreciate getting to know you a bit more, too.

It’s on your mind.

There is a topic to discuss. Often, I see (and do) one of two things.

Hold my tongue. We decide to spare the person what we need to tell them, and we get frustrated.

Blurt it out. The point wraps around emotion, and it obstructs how the other person could understand.

Both actions leave both parties confused, and when combined, i.e. someone blurting something out then holding their tongue because they didn’t like the result, it can lead to disaster.

How do we get out of this devastating loop?

Here is an exercise.

Exercise:

Write down what you need to tell someone.

Close your eyes, imagine you are in the shoes of the other person. What is important to them?

Look back at your “tell:” how does it address something that is important to them?

Simplify. How can you make that tell as simple as possible, while addressing what’s important to them?

Rewrite what you plan on telling them with this information.