Google Versus Yahoo: The Complexity of Simplicity

November 22, 2010

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

Read that line again as it is rather profound. I find that people have a tough time putting their thoughts in to a logical simple order that is easy for people to digest, follow and take action on. So you speak and no one seems to listen.

In order to be more effective you have to speak and act in such a way that people can easily see what action to take.

Think about Google versus Yahoo. When Google came out it quickly dominated Yahoo. Did it do that because it was better? No it was because it was simpler. When you went to Google your only option was to type in what you wanted to know. Then Google ONLY showed you that information.

With Yahoo you first had to find the category you wanted. Then you had to select the topics within that category and then you had to hunt for your information. It became too complicated. Hence people quickly moved off of it and over to Google.

Mastering the Art of Simplicity isn’t easy. It requires you have to be able to do the following:

Know your subject so you can order talk about it in the order people need to hear it.
Be able to make comparisons so people can lock in to your ideas and concepts even if they have never experienced it before.
Connect logic and emotion. Logic makes you think but emotions are what makes you act. You have to be able to get them to FEEL what you are saying.
Speak from your listener’s perspective, not yours. This means you have to, not only understand your subject, but then be able to speak about it in your listener’s language, not yours.

We have found that once we give our clients the Outcome Thinking® Formula they are quickly able to pull thoughts together in a logical order, adapt for any environment and then speak in an intelligent, authentic and with authority. See the problem is not that you don’t know how to speak, it is that your thoughts often work against you rather than for you.

The trick is in rewiring how you think so your brain works on the offense rather than the defense. As soon as you think on the offense you start to open your viewpoint so you can see comparisons, contrasts, insights, and nuances at a whole new level.

In order to see how defense thinking limits your ability to see things around you, cup your hands in to small telescope and put it up to your eye. Look at how you only now see bits and pieces. It is hard to put it all in perspective but drop your hands and you have expanded vision. Suddenly that light that took up your entire vision with the hand telescope now is just one fraction of what you see. You now have a new perspective.

Test your self this week and see if you can simplify things. What are you doing, mailing or emailing that can be simplified?