The synthesis of an idea

Many people waffle. On and on. 
Not conscious of the passing of time. 

As the talking continues, it’s harder to hold the thread of the information and it’s more challenging for us to keep paying attention. 

With increased stress and uncertainty in these times, most of us are experiencing reduced capabilities. It's tougher to take in information and process it effectively, for example. 

We must consider how we package information for people: presenting it in ways that make it easier to take in, quicker, clearer. 

Just talking, endlessly, won’t land an idea. 

Synthesis is a tool.

It’s how you analyze everything, bringing all of the parts together, reducing it down to something that can be taken on. It's not simplifying. It's synthesising. 

And it helps people better take up information in times of pressure, challenge and uncertainty. 

Edit again and make it shorter. 
Cut and carve up for shorter sentences. 
Package it up, in a package. 

That information you’re about to send ... revisit it and see how you can synthesise it further. 

Help the receivers do less work. 

Why the rush to simplicity

When things are messy, challenging or difficult, we can be impatient to make it all simple so we can tick it off and move on. It happens in meetings and workshops when the leader - meaning well, doing their best - takes what someone has said and simplifies it down to one big simple word.

The leader responds, ‘oh right, so what you’re talking about is < simple, big category word like productivity, strategy, collaboration>‘.

’No’, the person may say, that’s not quite what they were saying. Their contribution or explanation gets distilled so far ... pushed ahead to a single word, for the sake of simplicity.

But it could be too simple.

It’s like that exercise some people run in workshops: ‘What’s ONE WORD to describe today’s workshop/conference/meeting?’

Why the limit to one? One word may be easy, quick and controlling for you to put on people but it’s less effective for engagement, sensemaking and meaning making.

We may distill so far that the deeper (and intended) meaning vanishes, evaporates and is lost. Beware that by stripping things away to make it easier for you, may make contributions so vanilla... there’s no vanilla left.

The secret to leadership is simple

'The secret to leadership is simple’. So said Seth Godin ... and he says many wonderfully frank, clear and compelling things.

The concept, behavior and practice of leadership can get complicated and confusing - especially when you’re in the thick of it.

Like when you’re dealing with the human side (which is most of the time), or handling conflict and tension or leading through a significant and unsettling time of change (which is most of the time).

The slide deck from that leadership program or your ‘colour’ from that diagnostic tool might not help you so much when you’re waist deep in the tricky stuff.

Seth’s quote below here has been a helpful guide to me. So much so, I “elevated” it : that is, I took the words and made an artifact, an anchor, a reminder of it, and put it in front of my face where I can see it...to remind myself to not make leadership too complicated.

Has leadership become too complicated? What helps you with leadership?

Take a big bite of simplicity

I took a BIG bite out of the Big Apple over the past two weeks in New York City at the International Forum of Visual Practitioners conference. 

One of the session leaders, Michelle Boos-Stone, referred to Dan and Chip Heath's great book 'Made to Stick : Why some ideas survive and others die' (also called 'Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck'.)

Right up there, the number one thing that helps ideas stick is that they're  s-i-m-p-l-e. 

Dan and Chip Heath say:
"It's hard to make ideas stick in a noisy, unpredictable, chaotic environment. If we're to succeed, the first step is this: Be simple. Not simple in terms of "dumbing down" or "sound bites". You don't have to speak in monosyllables to be simple. What we mean by "simple" is finding the core of the idea. "Finding the core" means stripping an idea down to its most critical essence."

You might think you know that and do that. But I think we can all do it better. I was providing visual strategy support to a team conference recently where the leader was striving to get people onboard to new ways of working, three new priorities, some new processes, changes in organisational values and .... so much other 'stuff'. How could the team find their way through all of it to implement and lead on it? 

It would have been refreshing, more impactful and courageous for that leader to find the core in all of that noise. What was it that was truly the priority? Forcing prioritisation is powerful. "Message triage" is what Dan & Chip call it, from one of their case studies and stories in their book.

Look at something you're now trying to make stick. Find the core, strip it down, what's the real priority? What do you really need people to get a hold of? Communicate that bit.

Bright lights, big production

You know the scene : big arena, 10,000+fans, stage set for a live concert, pre-concert music playing...

Then the lights go dim and the artist hits the stage. Bam! They're on!

Usually at a large concert there is an oversupply of lighting, mini fireworks, massive visual extravaganza and all other sorts of visual effects. It's part of how it's done these days. 

But last night at the Bryan Adams concert, things went a little more 'old school'. 

Celebrating 20+ years in the business, he had a string of recognisable hits to pump out. And it was a brilliant concert. 

What impacted me so much was the 'pared back' staging and production. It was the band, on the stage with some Marshall amps. The so-called visual extravaganza was a large screen behind the stage, showing footage from three roving camera crews. And the footage was tinted with a sweet sepia, black and white tone. 

This style gave the audience a look at the gig from all angles. It was so simple. And it so worked. It was very smooth and it let Bryan's lyrics and the band's music be the star. 

I was reminded of Leonardo Da Vinci's quote : Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. 

So true. It was simple, clean and clear. It was sophisticated. The clarity of what this gig was about was crystal clear. 

Pare back your own production extravaganza this week.

Delete the elements that aren't really needed.

Get rid of the fluff, the fireworks and the pizzazz that you think you need to dress up your message.

Pare it back to get to the clarity of the message, the content and the bigger picture. Simplicity is the best gig of all. Rock on!