Iceberg
When I talk about the power of clarity, whether the concept or my book by that name, most people immediately assume I am talking about the importance of clear communication.
No one can deny the importance of clear communication, but the power of clarity goes far beyond formulating your message to make it clear. Clear communication is just the tip of the clarity iceberg.
Clarity requires knowing, with specificity, what you are trying to accomplish, how and with whom, and with the ability to focus so you can be successful. Harnessing the power of clarity, does not just involve the way you communicate, it also involves the way you think and interact. And the way we think and interact has been woefully neglected. (See Where is Clarity Greatest and Most Lacking? to understand that neglect.)
Specificity is key to clarity
Knowing exactly what you are trying to accomplish, requires specificity. General goals and intentions—visions and missions, for example—are a nice start, but they are too vague to constitute clarity. To harness the power of clarity you must think clearly and make the tough decisions about priorities. It requires you to pinpoint your intentions so that you are always pursuing specific, tangible outcomes that constitute your destination or a concrete outcome that unleashes next steps toward your destination. The specificity is critical. Without specificity, you can’t take deliberate, productive, efficient action. Instead, you are doing what I call “wandering in.” You are headed in a general direction, but not on a clear path to speedy and effective outcomes.
At all times, you need to be able to answer my trademark question(s):
- What must be different when we are done?
Or, said another way:
- What concrete, tangible outcome will we have then that we don’t have now?
- What will we walk away with that will unleash next steps?
- What decision, plan, strategy, or other object will we have created?
(To learn about Latham’s Cognitive Six, the only six specific, tangible outcomes that constitute real progress, read The Power of Clarity.)
So where does clear communication come in?
Specificity is essential to clear communication, but clear communication does not create specificity, which means it does not create clarity.
If you are working with others, clear communication can ensure others understand your specific, tangible desired outcomes; there is no doubt about that.
But before you can communicate clearly, you need think clearly. If you don’t first establish those specific, tangible outcomes, no amount of clear communication can close the gap. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend polishing your written communication and talking about your priorities, if those priorities are not specific and tangible, you are wasting your time and that of those on the receiving end of all your communication efforts.
Process clarity is key to clarity
Attention to process is another essential component of clarity. Attention to process—a.k.a. process clarity—establishes specificity over time. It breaks large tasks and projects down into a series of specific, concrete outcomes.
Notice that I said outcomes. I did not say a series of actions as is commonly understood when people talk about processes. An effective process is a series of specific, tangible, intermediate outcomes, each one of which unleashes next steps and leads to your ultimate outcome or destination.
Without process clarity, you face a large ambiguous mess or, in few cases, a single tangible outcome. The latter might be fine if your task is so simple that completing that one concrete outcome is all that matters. But for large projects or tasks, process clarity is essential for achieving specificity and focus.
Keep in mind that most meetings, especially those with multiple topics on the agenda, are a large ambiguous mess if not defined by a series of specific, tangible outcomes. Process clarity can save billions in meetings alone!
Without process clarity, you can’t communicate the specific, tangible outcomes expected.
Without process clarity, you can’t plan. This is true whether you are talking about planning your morning, a meeting, or a complex project. Every step needs to unleash next steps.
Without process clarity, you can’t involve the right people at the right time. Too often, we include the same old crowd in every step of our processes because we don’t take the time to identify the distinct outcomes and invite only the individuals needed to achieve each one. Inviting the same old crowd wastes the time of everyone who ought not be involved, guarantees irrelevant input and pressure from people who ought not be involved, and misses out on vital input from those who should be involved.
Without process clarity, you can’t focus all the available brainpower on a single step. The next time you sit in on a large discussion, notice how many different topics and questions are actually under discussion!
Without process clarity, you can’t ensure agreement as to how and if that outcome has been achieved. Have you ever walked away from a conversation with one conclusion only to discover a coworker drew the exact opposite conclusion?
Without process clarity, you can’t prevent people from trying to steer conversations to their hot button issues.
Without process clarity, you don’t hear from the introverts. They are left waiting for Godot. Occasionally, when Godot seems to be arriving and the introverts are ready to speak up, the conversation jumps to a new issue.
A clear process maximizes everyone’s ability to contribute and ensures their time is used most effectively.
Too often, we “wander into” projects and meetings without paying attention to our process. We flop around hoping to make progress. This lack of attention to process is not only costly, it is extremely frustrating to all involved.
Other times, we do plan a process, but the steps are just activities, not outcomes. In many cases, the outcomes are too vague to create vital clarity.
And too rarely do we revisit our process to ensure we are on track. This is especially true in large corporate projects where the actual objectives are often lost in the massive effort of carrying out a giant “engagement” plan. (Engagement is in quotes because engagement plans often completely fail to engage in a meaningful and positive manner.)
Any time you don’t have a sense of the series of intermediate outcomes that will lead to your objective, the first order of business is to make some decisions about what that series might look like. You may not be really clear beyond the first few steps, which is why it is so important to constantly revisit the process.
So where does clear communication come in?
Once again, clear communication ensures others know where things stand, what’s next, who needs to be involved, and how everyone can maximize their contribution. But all the communicating in the world won’t help if the path you're describing is vague or muddled, you aren’t sure where things stand, and you haven’t thought through who needs to be involved.
The power of clarity
Specificity and process clarity are keys to clarity. When you focus on them, you change the way you think and interact. You increase your productivity, confidence, and ability to empower others. Everyone is more likely to be on the same page. With that level of clarity, communication so much easier! And yet, while important, communication is still just the tip of the clarity iceberg.
For more in depth coverage of this topic and specific tips, read The Power of Clarity.
