Tamsen Webster explains how to clarify a big idea by focusing only on information needed to prompt action. She advocates for choosing one target action, using the "Jenga test" to strip away extras, and treating simplicity as sophistication.
What makes an idea more clear? Is it simplicity or complexity? I think most of us are gonna agree that it's not complexity that makes an idea more clear. Complexity gets in the way of clarity, and if we've got something in the way of clarity, then we've got something in the way of the big impact we want our big idea to have. So how do we make sure that we don't bury that big idea in all this extra stuff Well, that's what we're talking about this week on Find the Red Thread. If that sounds interesting to you, then like this video or podcast and subscribe. I'm Tamsen Webster of TamsenWebster.com, and I'll be your host. Most of the time when we keep adding stuff to our idea, we do it for good reason. There's a positive intent there. Sometimes it's selfish because we want people to see our idea as sophisticated and maybe therefore see us as sophisticated. Other times I think we're doing it for peop— other people, the people who we want to serve with the idea. We want to make sure that they understand it and they can apply it, so they keep adding all this extra stuff on. But there's a big difference between understanding an idea and acting on an idea. And even though somebody has to understand at least to some extent what an idea is before they can act, we need to understand that where, where the brain is concerned, less is more, especially when it comes to action. We need to make sure that people get only what they need to understand in order to act. Which means for you, when you're putting something together that helps explain your big idea, this word "only" is going to be really important to you. And in fact, one of the best techniques you can use to make sure that only the information that belongs in a particular communication is there is to focus on that action that you're looking for. But this is where I need to remind you that understanding in and of itself isn't an action. It's a prelude to an action. So you need to think about what specifically you want people to do. Now, remember though, that those actions can be things like plan, measure, choose. Plan, measure, choose, 3 completely different actions, though related, that can be the result of somebody hearing your idea. Now, of course, the first step in all of that is to make sure that you're choosing one. You're not like, well, I want them to do all 3. No, no, you need to choose one, choose one action that is the most important to you. So let's say you do choose something like plan, that you want somebody to plan, to make a plan to apply this idea that you've given them. Now that you know exactly what you want them to do, now you can go back and build your Red Thread for that to be the action. And here's where the word only comes in. Only the pieces of the Red Thread that serve that action go in. Only the pieces of information that support those pieces of the red thread go in. Keep asking yourself that question. Is this only what they need? Only what they need in order to act. In fact, you can do a little test with this. I used to work for a company called Oratium, and they called it the Jenga test after that wooden block game where you would build up blocks and then try to pull one out without having the whole tower of blocks fall. And we would say you could do this with the communication as well. You can pull out pieces of information, pull out a concept, pull out a story, pull out a fact, and see, does the whole communication still stand? Does the understanding that somebody needs in order to make an action still stand? If that tower of information still stands with the thing that you pulled out, out of it, then leave it out. But if it starts to crumble, then put it back in and then start testing other pieces that aren't nearly as critical. Because when it comes to making sure that your idea is as big as it can be, as Clare Boothe Luce said, the height of sophistication is simplicity. And only what people need to understand to act is your key to get there. I'm Tamsen Webster of TamsenWebster.com. Thanks for listening to this episode of Find the Red Thread. Thank you.
