K.I.S.S. or Don't Tell

Yeah, I know that this is ancient but one of the reasons it's out there is because it is SO true. I'm always amazed by how much more lessons "stick" when its delivered in a simple manner versus a complex manner. If we could always reduce our message to the simplest form all of us would be much better teachers. On of the goals of teachers should be to Keep It Simple Stupid or we shouldn't deliver the message until we can.

I was in a meeting the other day observing one of my managers explain a needed task to a 1 month employee. The task was to replicate a spreadsheet from an example he had. He wanted to make sure all formulas were correct so he had found a printed example for them to follow...simple enough right? Wrong, I listened to a technical explanation for 20 minutes that included the history of the enterprise's structure, ownership relationships and the reference of multiple income tax codes and state laws and interpretations that had my head spinning and I've been doing this work for 22 years. Remember I'm a CPA, the tax law can get pretty hairy!

After my manager realized that he had just about made himself dizzy, I jumped in and asked "So what part of this project do you want her to do, create the spreadsheet?". Low and behold his answer was a simple "yes" and off she went happy as a lark and did a great job. Why do we think we need to show the world how smart we are? Was that truly the intent of my manager? Was any of that information of value or interest to the new employee? Was it to impress the employee? In this particular case the manager was in need of some help and all he needed was someone that could create a spreadsheet for him. Why not explain that he needed help and that even though she wasn't even in his department he would sure appreciate her being a team player and giving him a hand with a spreadsheet? Now there's a lesson worth teaching...help people when they ask if you can.

Enjoy your day and KISS, we'll all be better off!