“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
~Albert Einstein

Have you ever sat in a meeting, really trying to listen, but at the end you felt you had no sense of what was discussed or decided? You didn’t know what happened, even though you knew something did.

Have you ever tried to explain something to someone, only to have them look at you questioningly? Or like you were crazy? Have you ever tried to be clear – really clear – but felt that the more you talked, the more you confused even yourself?

The world can be quite complex, and when we talk things through – or attempt to – that complexity gets in our way.

The big words. The elaborate ideas. The intricacies of office politics or convoluted relationships. Communication gets muffled and confused, and projects – and personal connections – get muddled.

What do we need to do? Simplify. And simplify some more. The more complex the world gets, the more we need to make things less complicated. The more tricky people – or problems – get, the more we need to make things easier, and clarify.

And when we try to explain and define and we find that we’re running into obstacles and misunderstandings, it becomes blatantly obvious that we may not understand things well enough ourselves. A great first step is to deepen our grasp, our knowledge, our perspective, our awareness. A great first step is to look for what we’re missing or ignoring, where we might be blind.

When we dig into the issue, or complexity, further, so that we comprehend it more deeply, wholly, and completely, we can better explain to others, in a simple, understandable way.

What have you been missing? What do you need to understand more fully?
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For deeper understanding – and better explaining – contact Lisa at lkohn@chatsworthconsulting.com.

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