Clarity

In Patrick

Lencioni’s book, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive he mentions Clarity TWICE!. Not only has it been distilled an executive’s focus areas down to 4 main themes, 50% of them involve clarity! If you’ve not read it, get on it. There is value in everything of his I’ve read.

I first read the Four Obsessions quite a while ago, and while I felt like I got it back then, I feel like I’ve achieved a whole new level of understanding the larger my organisation has become.

On reflection, a massive amount of the business issues I’ve faced over the past 20 years are either a result of, or can be traced back to, a lack of clarity.

The example I think we can all get behind involves the term “common sense”. I hope you all rolled your eyes there.

I’ve lost track of the number of team members I’ve coached through being bitterly disappointed when their expectations aren’t met and they say earnestly “… but it’s just common sense, isn’t it?”

Yeah, nah mate. Maybe to you… but clearly not to them!

If we get bill queries from clients? We’ve not been clear about terms or inclusions.

If we get scope questions after a Project? We’ve not communicated the scope effectively.

A staff member who’s not a cultural fit? We mustn’t be clear on or hiring for our values.

Such a basic, but pervasive root cause.

But how much clarity is too much clarity? How much time should we spend telling people stuff they might already know? The answer is, just enough. But no more and no less.

The quote often credited to Einstein of, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” can be paraphrased here.

Let’s run with the version for clear communications.

Communicate as clearly and succinctly as possible, but not clearer or more succinctly.

If you need it by tomorrow, don’t say you want it ASAP! That doesn’t help anyone!

If you can’t meet at 2pm, don’t say “I’m good after lunch.”

If we all turned our clarity up just one notch, every interaction would become that much more effective!

Be clear. If I’d had more time, I would have written a more succinct article.