Blah Blah Blah

by Dan Roam

  Use Vivid Grammar

  When I hear a nounDraw a portrait.

  When I hear an adjective of quantityDraw a chart.

  When I hear a prepositionDraw a map.

  When I hear tenseDraw a timeline.

  When I hear a complex verbDraw a flowchart.

  When I hear a complex sentenceDraw a multivariable plot.

  Use the Vivid FOREST

  F: Does the idea have form? (Do I see the underlying shape of the idea?)

  O: Can it be explained with only the essentials? (Has it been distilled to its essence?)

  R: Is the idea recognizable? (Do I know where I have seen the idea before?)

  E: Can the idea evolve? (Does it leave room for someone else’s ideas?)

  S: Does the idea span differences? (Does it account for opposites?)

  T: Is the idea targeted? (Does the idea matter to me?)

  Tactical Tip No. 2: As a Self-Test, Run the Vivid Tools Backward

  I designed the order of the three tools in this book (Blah-Blahmeter, Vivid Grammar, Vivid FOREST) to help us get out of blah-blah-blah. To get back in (so we can change the world), we should use the tools in reverse order. In other words, to better understand our own ideas and make sure we’re ready to share them, we run the Vivid Checklist backward.

  I first run my own idea through the Vivid FOREST to make sure it is clear, simple, and memorable.

  Next, I use Vivid Grammar to add the simplest and most direct visuals as I prepare my presentation.

  Finally, I run my own idea through the Blah-Blahmeter to make sure it is free of blah-blah-blah before I present it to others.

  Tactical Tip No. 3: Create “Who Maps” for Books, Reports, and Presentations

  More than anything else, our minds are interested in other people. We want to know what others are thinking, doing, and dreaming. Since the days of Oog and Aag, we’ve been social animals—and we’ve developed the facial recognition capabilities to match. We’re attracted to people whose look we like, repelled by those whose look we don’t, intrigued by those with a new look, and bored by people we’ve been looking at too long.

  For this reason, any complex problem can be clarified enormously simply by looking at who is involved with it. In fact, the hardest part of solving most problems is simply keeping track of who the players are. If we can make a vivid list of the players—who they are, what they look like, how many there are, how directly or indirectly involved they are—we will have solved half the problem. Once we know who the people are (including ourselves—let’s not forget that as far as our brain is concerned, if there is a problem that we’re involved in, we’re by definition in the center of it), all that remains is to anticipate how they are likely to act.

  This holds true for any complex story. Try this: The next time you read a book involving more than two characters, take a sheet of paper and write down the names of the characters as they appear. Keep the list up to date as more characters appear. As the players interact, draw lines between them showing who is related to whom. Fairly quickly, a map will appear. By referring back to the map when the plot gets thick and by watching the progress of the characters across it, we will engage with the story in a powerful and memorable way.

  This “who mapping” process works wonders for anyone trying to understand a complex novel, a legal brief, a mathematical word problem, or even a business meeting: There really is no better way to get the big picture than drawing out the people.

  Tactical Tip No. 4: Draw Out a Premeeting Picture (and Get Ahead of the Blah)

  Every meeting has “the picture”—the one central image, wh Ze="Ti

  Before going into any meeting that we are leading (or in which we expect to play a major role), we should take the time to create “the picture” of what we most want to share. By vividly mapping out in advance the one thing we hope people will remember, we focus our own mind and give everyone else the benefit of at least one clear idea to discuss.

  Put bluntly, the person who walks into the meeting with the clearest picture in mind is the one most likely to guide the outcome. Using the tools in this book, we now have the means to create that picture.

  By sketching out our idea in advance using Vivid Grammar or the Vivid FOREST as a guide (depending on our idea and the goals for the meeting, it could be any vivid picture), we will be preparing ourselves for success. Once the meeting begins, we should go up to the erasable board and draw it out. Whether or not this was “our” show, the moment we draw the defining picture, we will own the meeting.

  Subtip: The “Boss Test”

  If you are the boss, sharing your idea verbally and visually ensures that everyone knows your thoughts—which in turn reaffirms your right to be the boss. That’s great on both counts. Now disregard the following paragraphs.

  If you are not the boss, use your next picture as the “boss test.” When you begin drawing your picture in the meeting, your boss will either love it or hate it.

  If your boss loves it, you can be pretty sure that you have an expansive, confident, open-minded boss who appreciates the effort you’ve made to think through your idea in an innovative way. Such a boss will appreciate your desire to make your idea clear—even if (especially if) your picture disagrees with her thinking. (At a minimum, at least your boss will have your picture to use as a clear illustration of what she is not thinking.)

  If, on the other hand, your boss hates your picture, you can be pretty sure that you have a small-minded boss who is frightened of change, does not like making waves, and does not appreciate real innovators shaking things up in the office. In this case, act accordingly and start working on your exit plans.

  (Either that or your drawing was really off-base—in which case you might want to go back and reread this book.)

  THE BIG PICTURE: THE TOP FOUR STRATEGIES FOR LONG-TERM VIVID THINKING

  We’ll conclude with the strategies. Here they are: four long-term ways we can improve the ways we think and communicate.

  Strategy 1: Become Double-Minded

  Becoming vivid reminds us that we’re better thinkers than we thought. There is no idea, no matter how complex, that cannot be described in an engaging and understandable way when we put our whole mind to it. When we put our idea in a form that people want to learn, they will. When we share our idea in a way people want to understand, they will.

  Strategy 2: Make Vivid the First Step of Viral

  The most amazing thing about Vivid Ideas is that once we send them out into the land of blah-blah-blah, we don’t have to keep talking. If our idea really is that clear, simple, and clarifying, it will do most of its work on its own.

  The one thing that all our feverish communications channels demand is ideas. Whether we’re talking about the Internet, the blogosphere, the twitterverse, the social graph—yes, even network-enhanced “traditional” media like magazines, books, and broadcast—they don’t mean a thing if they don’t have good ideas to share. And nothing is easier to share than a Vivid Idea.

  A Vivid Idea has everything it needs to go viral: It’s simple, it’s clear, it’s compact. By taking the time to make our ideas vivid, we’ve given other people everything they need to help it go viral. We all want to spread ideas that make us look smart—and nothing makes us look smarter than passing along an idea that people understand.

  Strategy 3: Appoint Your CSO (Chief Simplicity Officer)

  The real job of the boss is to know all the complexity of vision, execution, and operations but to retain the ability to keep it simple for others.

  Every organization of more than two people has a natural tendency to add more complexity. In scientific circles this is known as the law of entropy: Everything naturally moves to a state of disorder—more details, more nuances, more items on the agenda. We need someone dedicated to keeping things off. The most brilliant example I saw of this was a set of two-day meetings I had with the head of an innovative hedge fund in New York. Although I know nothing about the nuances of financial plann
ing, risk management, or “fundamental” market approaches versus “quants,” the boss could describe it all in a series of simple pictures, taking me from hedge fund neophyte to conceptual expert in less than eight hours.

  Why not create a new executive-level position called the chief simplicity officer? Every company worth its brand has a chief marketing officer who ensures that every time the brand is mentioned it’s mentioned the right way. From now on, companies should have someone making equally sure that every message delivered and every customer interaction is guided by the rule “Keep it simple.”

  The CSO’s job description? Easy: Run every idea through the Vivid FOREST, Vivid Grammar, and Blah-Blahmeter before it leaves the house.

  Strategy 4: Believe in Your Hummingbird (She’s More Bazooka Than Bambi)

  Remember our fox and our hummingbird? (How could we forget, right?) Our fox is our verbal mind, and we’ve trained him and given him tools our entire life. Our hummingbird is our visual mind—and we’ve given her pretty much nothing.

  It makes sense. A fox is clever and makes a good show of himself in a meeting: linear, logical, and persuasive—who wouldn’t want him on their side? Meanwhile, a hummingbird is a disaster in the boardroom: flighty, scattered, and hyperactive—who would want her there at all?

  But think about this. Who really sees the big picture: the fox or the hummingbird?

  Seven hundred years ago, the Aztecs, the mightiest nation of the Americas, sought out a symbol to represent their warrior spirit. Of all the animals of the forest—the jaguar, the snake, the eagle—they wanted the fastest, fiercest, and most omniscient creature of all to become their warrior god. Which animal do you think they chose to lead them into battle?

  You got it: the hummingbird. Under the guidance of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs dominated Mexico and Central America for three hundred years.

  Let us never again underestimate the power of our hummingbird.

  So next time we think our hummingbird isn’t a force to be reckoned with, we should think again. If you’re struggling to find the right words, maybe you should stop looking for words alone; add pictures to make your message vivid. If nobody remembers what you said, maybe you’re using the wrong bazooka.

  Final Thought: Go Change the World

  The single greatest challenge to leaders today (and that includes thinkers, teachers, managers, presidents, parents, CEOs, designers, salespeople, students—all of us) is this: We have to make more increasingly complex ideas more clear, more quickly and more persuasively than ever, to more audiences who are more informed and have more access to more information than ever.

  Whew. No wonder it’s tough Z508" top heigh to be a leader today.

  Want to make a difference? Don’t blah-blah-blah. Be vivid.

  Click here for more books by this author.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  It takes many people to make a book. I want to thank you all.

  There is a mistaken impression that writing a book is a lonely task. Yes, there are many long lonely moments, but in reality the entire process is a team endeavor. Put simply, the number one rule of creating a book is that it cannot be done alone. I could go on with a long list of who did what on this book (and it would be a long list), but I worry that might come across as too much blah-blah-blah. So let me thank the whole cast in a more vivid way.

  The home team.

  Isabelle

  Sophie

  Celeste

  Mom

  RIP 2010

  Karl

  Mike

  Dad

  Lilli

  Napa Fox

  Tweets

  My publishing team.

  Ted Weinstein

  Adrian Zackheim

  Courtney Young

  Eric Meyers

  Will Weisser

  My promotion team.

  Mark Fortier

  Elizabeth Hazelton

  Amanda Pritzker

  Jamie Jelly

  Tom Neilssen

  Les Teurk

  Marge Hennessy

  Freya Joy

  Christina Teichmann

  My clients & business friends team.

  Pat O’Dea

  Laila Tarraf

  Todd Spaletto

  Jeff DiDomenico

  David Rich

  Guy Kawasaki

  Sunni Brown

  Nancy Duarte

  Alex Osterwalder

  Sean Murphy

  Mark Mullen

  Roger Barnett

  Dr. Michel Fuller

  Marci LeFevre

  Nancy Napier

  Elise Olding

  Morgen Newman

  Marianne Wilman

  Carmine Gallo

  Macon Phillips

  Goh Ai Yat

  Brandon Hoe

  Tim West

  Ken Cornelius

  Hugh Forrest

  Corey McGuire

  My timeless support network.

  Dan Thomas

  c/> Nancy Beckman

  Dr. Tony Jones

  Gordon Evans

  Darcy Dapra

  Karen Graham

  Dave Gray

  Leslie Flores

  David Yager

  Maria Mahar

  Tom Strich

  Ken Schaefer

  Eric Eislund

  th="0"> Linda Eislund

  Martin Michaud

  Andy Grogan

  Lynn Carruthers

  Kristina Halvorson

  Mark Schar

  Elliot Eisner

  Kim Sealey

  Anna Wachter

  John Lally

  Kate Rutter

  Larry Minney

  g "0" width="0" align="center">Geoff Badner

  Xavier Fan

  Bob Morris

  APPENDIXES

  APPENDIX A

  How We Lost Half Our Mind

  The Test

  The SAT is the standard high school aptitude test in the United States. It is taken by nearly every teenager hoping to attend college, and nearly every higher-learning institution requires an SAT score for admission. As the primary nationally standardized measure of intellectual ability, SAT scores are considered the single most reliably consistent predictor of academic fitness. (The other two measures considered by application boards are grade-point average and extracurricular activities.)

  In many ways, a young adult’s SAT score is the number-one determinant of his or her academic future. A high score significantly increases the chances of acceptance to a good university, whereas a medium or poor score virtually guarantees nonacceptance. It’s not an overstatement to say that for most college-bound students, the three hours and forty-five minutes they spend taking the SAT will have more impact on their educational future than anything else they do in their first sixteen years.

  For most young Americans, the SAT is the single most important determinant of future educational opportunity.