Blah Blah Blah Read online

  The ideal MVP: a rich display of multiple independent elements.

  In this way, multivariable plots represent the interaction of all the previous pictures in the Grammar Graph: who and what + how many + where + when + how = why. Conceptually, multivariable plots can be said to represent the “whys” of our ideas in a vivid way.

  MVPs present the interaction of all the preceeding pictures in the Grammar Graph.

  Putting It All Together

  Our Grammar Graph is now complete. All six elemental pictures are accounted for, their relative positions established, and their linkages made clear. Let’s put it to work.

  Vivid Grammar Makes Visual Thinking Second Nature

  There we have it: the six essentials of Vivid Grammar all pulled together into a single Grammar Graph. Using just these six elemental pictures, our hummingbird can create a complementary visual representation of any idea our fox can talk about. With Vivid Grammar, “When we say a word, we should draw a picture” not only becomes possible; it becomes simple—and, with a little practice, it becomes second nature. And why shouldn’t it? After all, our visual hummingbird is just as legitimate and important a part of our mind as our verbal fox—and with Vivid Grammar, she n

  ow has the basic tools to express herself.

  With Vivid Grammar, we’ve coaxed our visual mind back onto our mental balance. With both our piece-by-piece words and our all-at-once pictures ready to work together again, there is no blah-blah-blah we can’t beat. Now let’s put it all to work.

  With our verbal fox and our visual hummingbird lined up and ready to go, there is no blah-blah-blah we can’t beat.

  PART 3

  The Forest and the Trees:

  The Seven Essentials of a Vivid Idea

  CHAPTER 6

  The Vivid F-O-R-E-S-T: The Six Essentials of Vivid Ideas

  Our Route so Far

  Back in the introduction, I compared this book to a treasure map that unfolds into three panels. The first panel shows our present location, the second shows a path out, and the third shows our destination. So far, we’ve covered the first two.

  This book is a three-panel map; we’ve now completed the first two.

  Our Destination: The Forest and the Trees

  Before we move on to the third panel, let’s calibrate our bearings with a quick review of where we’ve been. Over on the left side we see blah-blah-blah, the starting point for this trip. To better understand that place and to help cut through the noise, we created the Blah-Blahmeter, a tool that showed us how spoken ideas can benefit from visual clarification and amplification.

  Our way out of blah-blah-blah is a two-part path called Vivid Thinking, which runs from left to right across the center of the map. As we recall, Vivid Thinking is the active integration of our verbal and visual minds, where each increases the clarity of the other. To start down that path, we needed a way to reawaken long-dormant connections between the two, so we created Vivid Grammar, a tool that showed how to create illuminating pictures directly from our words (and vice versa). We visually summarized the essentials of that grammar on the Grammar Graph.

  That’s our route so far. We’ve come a long way—but we’re not out of the woods yet. In fact, before we can complete this journey, we first need to go deeper into the woods. That’s because the rules of Vivid Grammar take us to a place we’ve never visited before.

  This new place is represented by the forest over on the right. When we bring our ideas into this forest, they are wordy, complex, and unclear—but when we take them back out, they will be vivid. During this trip through the woods, we’ll get to know better than ever what our ideas sound like and look like. This next stop is the home of Vivid Ideas—a place where we will see the forest and the trees.

  Our destination is a place where our ideas are so vivid that we can see both the forest and the trees.

  It’s a Forest Out There

  Words are abstractions, the ultimate mental shorthand. When we know what they mean, words instantly call to mind ideas, images, feelings, and memories. When we all speak the same language, our words offer near-perfect communications efficiency. By lining up the right words in the right order, we can say so much by saying so little.

  But the extraordinary verbal efficiency of words also has a steep downside. Like all abstractions, words are by definition distinct from the actual “things” they represent. If we are unclear in our own mind about which specific “thing” our word means or if we’re unclear when we share words with other people, the whole system crashes.

  Getting Above the Trees

  Take the word fly, for example. It’s a nice, simple word, only three letters long, and we all know what it means. Right? Right.

  Think “fly.” Got it, guys?

  Actually, wrong: We don’t know. Without context, you don’t know which “fly” I mean:

  When I say “fly,” I could mean the bug. = fly.

  Or I could mean what a plane does. = fly.

  Or I could mean how to pilot the plane. = fly.

  Or I could mean what Superman does. = fly.

  Or I could mean what a slugger does. = fly.

  Or I could mean to get someplace quickly. = fly.

  Point being, the abstraction of words ensures that even when we speak the same language, there is always vast room for interpreting what we mean. As much as we’re taught to have faith in the precision of words, they are rarely anywhere near as clear as we’d like to believe. Instinctively we know that, of course, so we add context to clarify which meaning we mean. (Or we just let each other guess, which is how much of our blah-blah-blah is born.)

  Context: Either More Trees or More Forest

  There are two ways to add that context: Either we line up more words or we step back and add a picture. Usually, we do the first: We add context by adding words: “I’d like to fly over the trees so I can get a better look at the whole forest.” Those extra words tell us which “fly” we’re talking about, and the appropriate picture comes to mind.

  Think about “fly” as “being able to zoom around in the sky.” Now we’re talking.

  There: Now we see the forest (the big picture) and the trees (the individual words), and the combination makes sense. But our verbal fox and visual hummingbird still aren’t on the same page, because what I really wanted to convey was what that “fly” feels like—I wanted to share with you the “how-to,” not just the dream-like fantasy.

  As our hummingbird knows from personal experience, there’s more to flying than jumping up and down and flapping. In fact, to her, “flying” is more like balancing a broom on a finger while running than it is like zooming around with outstretched arms—and that difference can be described only partially with words. She knows that adding a picture to those words is necessary to show all that is involved.

  Flying is more like balancing than leaping. To convey that, our hummingird needs a picture.

  The picture she draws gives visual form to another long string of words: Flying means simultaneously balancing four competing forces: thrust, which pushes us forward through the air; drag, which holds us back; lift, which pushes us up; and weight, which pulls us down.31

  Here’s what her picture looks like:

  Our hummingbird knows that flying means balancing four separate and simultneaous forces—something that can be shown only by combining words with a picture.

  Now we have a vivid description of this interpretation of the word fly. It took a moment to get here, but it was worth the effort. Because once we see this picture, we begin the shift from having an abstract idea of flying to having a specific, realistic idea of what is involved—which means that rather than just dreaming about it, we can actually do it.

  Coming back down to earth, this means that Vivid Thinking gives us a way to make sure that everyone in our boardroom, classroom, sales call, and project planning session not only thinks they know what they’re supposed to do—they really do know.

  What to Draw?

&nbs
p; Our hummingbird knew which “flying” picture to draw for one simple reason: experience. She’s thought about flying her entire life and knows exactly what it looks like. Good for her: Now our fox has a clue about what’s involved as well. But what about the rest of us? Although we may be experts in finance, education, human resources, social sciences, physical sciences, management, leadership, technology, psychology, sports, and trades of every kind, we haven’t unleashed our hummingbird since kindergarten. How do we take the lessons of Vivid Grammar and use them to create the pictures that enrich our verbal ideas?

  That’s where the third and final rule of Vivid Thinking comes into play: If we don’t know what to draw, we look to the seven essentials of Vivid Ideas.

  VIVID THINKING RULE NO. 3: To Make Any Idea More Vivid, We Turn to the Seven Vivid Essentials

  Making Thinking Simpler: The Seven Essentials of a Vivid Idea

  The point of Vivid Thinking is to make it easier to think about complex ideas. Like Richard Feynman and his mental crankshaft, we’ve been taught to believe that the way to demonstrate knowledge of something is to talk about it. We’ve learned to rely on a single equation that reads like this: More words = more clarity = more knowledge. But as we now know, that equation is at best only half right.

  Very often, we think we know something well because we have the words to describe it. But just as often, our words are missing vast chunks—or, even worse, obscure what’s actually going on. Our usual response is to say more, but in reality these chunks can’t be described and clarity can’t be achieved no matter how many words we say. Our goal for the rest of this book is to help our visual mind pick up the slack to fill in those chunks and clear out that fog—with the added benefit that we’ll always discover something new along the way.

  Vivid Grammar got us R66ccht=igh started: When we say a word, we should draw a picture. Say a noun, draw a portrait; say a preposition, draw a map; etc. But that is just a start: Our ideas are far more complex than a few words strung together. Vivid Thinking is going to be useful only if it can help us translate entire thoughts into pictures.

  Vivid Thinking can do that—and that’s what exploring the forest and the trees is going to show us.

  So Here’s the Deal . . .

  If we want to explore an idea solely with words, that’s fine, but then we become pure fox and our thoughts need to be expressed as a long row of trees, everything lined up just so. If we explore an idea solely with pictures, that’s also fine, but then we become pure hummingbird and our thoughts need to be expressed as a map, showing everything all at once.

  Let’s not be mistaken: Both options are useful and powerful. But both are flawed. In both cases we get something from the idea, but in both cases we don’t fully “get” the idea. And that’s not good enough in a world of blah-blah-blah.

  The Vivid FOREST

  Vivid Ideas really are like the proverbial forest: a big picture composed of lots of individual elements, each with its unique individual attributes. Put that into a picture and we see our first view of the Vivid FOREST: a tall central tree surrounded by six smaller trees.

  Our first view of the Vivid FOREST: a central tall tree surrounded by six smaller trees.

  The central tree represents the heart of our idea, in this case “Vivid Ideas are both visual and verbal.” The surrounding trees represent six supporting concepts: Vivid Ideas have form, show only the essentials, are recognizable, keep evolving, span differences, and are targeted. It’s only when all are visible together that we can really think about our idea deeply enough to be able to express it fully.

  To explore this forest, let’s first send our hummingbird for a reconnaissance flyover from which she can create a quick map.

  First, our hummingbird goes out for a recon flight.

  THE VIVID FOREST, HUMMINGBIRD VIEW

  Our hummingbird returns from her aerial recon of the Vivid FOREST with a simple map. It shows seven intersecting circles, each containing a single essential concept, all linked together around the heart of the big idea. Nice map. Thank you, hummingbird.

  The hummingbird’s map of the Vivid FOREST: The central visual/verbal idea is surrounded by six supporting ideas.

  Although the seven trees are linked together, they do not appear to be in any particular linear order—we need our piece-by-piece fox for that. So let’s send our fox into the forest to get the sequential order of things and bring us back a list.

  Then our fox goes in for a list.

  Starting in the center, our fox runs from tree to tree taking notes, and here is his path:

  As our fox runs through the forest, he notes the sequential position of each idea from the center out to the perimeter.

  Having noted the sequence, our fox puts it into his favorite form: a list. Well, what do you know: The ideas surrounding the core spell out the mnemonic F-O-R-E-S-T. Thank you again, fox.

  THE VIVID FOREST, FOX VIEW

  Vivid: Vivid Ideas are expressed with words and pictures.

  F: Vivid Ideas have form.

  O: Vivid Ideas show only the essentials.

  R: Vivid Ideas are recognizable.

  E: Vivid Ideas are evolving.

  S: Vivid Ideas span differences.

  T: Vivid Ideas are targeted (especially to me).

  For the rest of this section, we’re going to alternate back and forth between our hummingbird’s map and our fox’s mnemonic list as we explore all seven essentials of a Vivid Idea. When we’re done, we’ll know exactly what picture to draw, not just when we say a word but even when we want to express an entire idea.

  The Heart of the Forest: Vivid Ideas Are Visual and Verbal

  Our tour of the forest begins in the center, at the heart of our idea. Every idea has this core, the central “thing” that the idea is really all about. Sometimes the core may be the first thing that crosses our mind: “Hey, I could slice this bread Rinte Idl “thing!” Sometimes it might take weeks or even years of grinding thought for it to appear: “Wait a minute, maybe the earth isn’t the center of the universe.” Either way, there is no way we can fully grasp an idea—and absolutely no hope that anyone else will—until we have found this core.

  For many of us, the core of an idea is easier to find through talking or writing—but we need pictures as well. For many of us, the core is easier to find through just looking and drawing—but we need words as well. That’s why we’ve got both a verbal and a visual mind—so we don’t have to use only one.

  The heart of this book: Vivid ideas are both visual and verbal.

  Lining Up to Board

  Since we were just talking with our fox about lining things up, why don’t we start with an example of lining up something else. How about airline passengers?

  You’d think that after lining people up for nearly a century, airlines would have perfected the art of getting people on and off a plane. You’d also think that most of us, having boarded planes dozens (if not hundreds) of times, would know how to relate what we hear over the loudspeaker to the numbers and letters on the paper in our hand and know what we’re supposed to do.

  But neither of these is true. Airline boarding times are getting longer, Jetways are getting more crowded, passengers are getting more upset, and gate agents are just getting louder. An airline boarding announcement is the ultimate in blah-blah-blah: It can’t really be heard, it says both too much and too little, and it’s delivered in a way that no one wants to understand. It’s no wonder that the most stressed we get while flying isn’t during takeoff, turbulence, or landing—it’s during the boarding process.

  The airline boarding announcement: simultaneously too much information and too little, delivered in a way nobody wants to hear. The ultimate blah-blah-blah.

  In 2008, Southwest Airlines, always a leader in doing things differently, introduced a new system to change all that. Already the most financially successful airline in history, Southwest had long ago addressed the boarding process in the simplest way possible—by getting rid o
f it. On Southwest, there were no assigned seats, so passengers just showed up at the gate and walked onto the plane in the order they arrived. That alone saved so much time that the airline consistently won points for the fastest gate turnarounds. But that wasn’t enough.

  Simple as the “just show up” approach was, it brought its own stress: Not knowing which good seats would be available, passengers learned to arrive at Southwest gates early. Before long, Southwest found itself in the same muddle as other airlines: vast crowds milling by the Jetway R/p>