A guest post by John Mataraza of Digital Influence Group.
We’ve all made the association that bigger is better. That saying more means you have more to say. That the more we pontificate, the more likely we are to eventually say something smart. That the longer our PowerPoint presentations are, the more astute we are going to seem. That a 100-page deck with complex measurement readouts and vague meaningless “results” is better than a distilled and focused one-page dashboard.
The truth is: A great idea is only great when others can understand it and easily act on it. The best ideas are similar to magic; they are amazing yet easily understood on the surface. In a time of an overwhelming abundance of information, data, and options, the more efficiently you can explain your strategy, the better it most likely is.
Strategic Elegance
Strategic elegance is critical to how well your ideas or strategies are received.
My take on how to explain elegance in regard to strategic storytelling is related to the formula for density (below in gray), which basically defines how much stuff is crammed into a defined space. I’m defining elegance as how much “space” you need to convey your thinking. Examining the red formula below, strategies (m) told without the need for a ton of pontificating (V) equate to ideas with a high elegance factor. Those strategies tend to be more understandable, which is the first step of making them actionable and sellable.
Building in contrived complexity to make it seem like you “put a lot of work into this” serves only to keep your ideas from becoming actionable. Complexity makes your idea seem too hard and casts doubt regarding how feasible it is to implement your idea. Ever notice people don’t like ideas that they perceive will result in a lot of work for them?
Unfortunately, it’s easier to complicate something than it is to simplify it. Making brilliant ideas seem simple is a unique and invaluable talent. Doing so requires much more thought. You need to conjure up the brilliant idea—and do the thinking for the folks to whom you are going to present this idea. You need to make your brilliant idea easily understood.
On the other hand, it’s easy to just throw all the charts and words you can together and submit a 100-page measurement deck because maybe your audience will find something of value in it. However, that 100-page deck betrays an incredible lack of confidence in what you are saying. In giving a long-winded presentation, you aren’t saying anything at all. Details are critical but should never be used as a crutch. Elegance with respect to analytic storytelling continues to be an anomalous occurrence.
This propensity for pontification is tied, in part, to fearful corporate cultures where taking action seems scary. There is comfort in size. The notion that a deck should have a “thunk factor” (named as such for the sound your ridiculously bloated presentation makes when it is dropped on a desk) only shows you didn’t invest the time on your reader’s behalf to determine what was important. Instead, you crammed it all in and hoped the deck gives the impression that you know what you are talking about.
It won’t.
Distilling simplicity from complexity is not easy. However, being unafraid to commit to a clear point of view is true thought leadership—and we need more of it. Nobody has the time or desire to wallow in a sea of unnecessary details that only obfuscate your strategic intent.
Sure, there is safety in numbers, but there is power in simplicity.
John Mataraza is the director of marketing at Digital Influence Group. You can connect with him on Twitter @jmaz3 or on LinkedIn.
(Photo courtesy of Bigstock: Bright Idea)
Tags: Leadership, Marketing
Oh, I so agree. I often find myself intimidated or offended by “impressive” pontification, jargon I don’t know and stats I can’t relate to. It’s much harder to express yourself simply and concisely, yet so much more effective. Thanks
Thanks for the reply Barbara – you bring up a good point here about essentially feeling offended and not simply annoyed or disinterested, by all the pointless noise in many presentations. It shows that there is a longer term risk in addition to just being tuned out in the short term.
Love this, John. Reminds me of the TS Eliot quote: “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
Oops. I stand corrected, thanks to a few folks on Twitter sharper than I am! The utterer of that quote was Pascal, not TS Eliot. Thanks, guys: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/
Hi Ann – either way it’s a great quote and demonstrates that we’ve been aware of this problem for hundreds of years but still keep making the same mistake!
Excellent post – and a good reminder for all of us penmonkeys out there.
Jason, believe me, I half wrote this as a reminder to MYSELF. Thanks for your comment.
A great idea is only great when others can understand it and easily act on it. Agree.
And i think, the best tool to promote our ideas is thru story. A powerful story.
Create a compelling story (not dry slides) to promote our ideas.
[...] (This article was first published in Marketing Profs HERE) [...]
It’s funny I came across this article today (and it was thoughtful and right on time, by the way).
There’s a gentleman I am great friends with that I occasionally share business ideas with and we sometimes brainstorm on topics. I can’t express this enough – I would SO love to get him across a poker table (if I knew how to play) because it would be the easiest win! When he knows something well and I ask for some insight, it’s laid out clearly, quickly and matter-of-factly; almost as if he assumes I have some basic starting knowledge. Some may find that smug but it works; I’m the same way. I will give you an answer, short and precise and if more detail is requested and I see that the person I’m engaging with has less knowledge than I was aware, I’ll simply expand on my first answer. It’s that simple.
Now when he *doesn’t* know something and doesn’t want to admit how little he knows, he gets into these long and convoluted explanations with a lot of, “put it this way,” and “basically it’s like this,” and then uses a lot of words that don’t explain much. (And this is something we laugh about often so no back-stabbing here – I expect he’ll leave a comment of his own once I tell him I’ve posted here!)
Another benefit to simpler explanations is that whether for the novice, pro or anyone in between, if your initial explanation of a subject or topic is simple enough to digest quickly, they’re probably more likely to feel you’re approachable enough to ask for further explanation if needed without being spoken down to. If they have to pull out a thesaurus to decipher what you said the first time, they’re probably not going to approach you for more of the same.
And maybe that wouldn’t be your audience anyway; that’s fine. But even if it’s not your audience, anyone can be a fan.
Great point, John. The ability to convey a point or message succinctly and in a way that many can understand and appreciate is a valuable skill. @CloudNineMedia