Brevity and Meaning

You’ve probably never heard of Theodor Geisel, but you’ve almost certainly read his several of his books. Geisel wrote under the pseudonym of “Dr. Seuss.”

In 1957, Random House released The Cat in the Hat, a book destined to hold a prominent place in millions of childhood memories for the decades to come. What made this story so remarkable, at least to Geisel’s editor, Bennett Cerf, was that its 65 pages contained only 225 unique words.

Cerf was astounded that Geisel had managed to tell this delightful story with such brevity and so he issued an interesting challenge. There was no way, Cerf gambled, that Geisel could write an equally meaningful book in a mere fifty words. Geisel accepted the challenge and on August 12, 1906, Random House published Green Eggs and Ham. Geisel had managed to use only fifty unique words over 62 pages. It outsold The Cat and the Hat and is, still, one of the bestselling children’s books of all time.

What if we took a page from Dr. Seuss (pun very much intended)? What if we stopped thinking or, at least, speaking as though more words necessarily made for more meaning?

We are a people long on information and short on wisdom, long on knowledge and short on meaning, long on explanation and short on clarity.

Think about your words. Spend them on wisdom, meaning, and clarity.

The Curse of Knowledge

I hate submitting tax forms.

I don’t hate a lot of things. But this is one of them.

I’ve been submitting tax forms for upwards of two decades and I still hate it. I mostly hate it because year to year I can never remember exactly what my accountant needs from me.

A couple months ago he sent me a “Tax Organizer” – a 37-page-long document of legal jargon that was supposed to tell me what I needed to submit. I know they have to send that – but 95% of it doesn’t apply to me. The problem is that I’m ignorant of what doesn’t apply.

I responded by asking for a simple checklist. “Send me something a kindergartener would understand,” I wrote.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my accountant. He has saved me countless headaches over the years (I got a C- in my freshman accounting course) and I’m so grateful for him and his team.

But it got me thinking about the “curse of knowledge.”

When we are experts in our field (whatever that field may be), it’s really easy to forget that not everyone knows what we know. It’s easy to use vocabulary that’s second nature to us but might as well be Greek to our listeners. It’s easy to assume we’re on the same page when we’re not even reading the same book.

Don’t assume that people know what you know.

In fact, assume they don’t.

Don’t be condescending. That’s unhelpful for other reasons (not to mention disrespectful).

But step into the shoes of your children, your students, your employees. Remember what it was like to be where they are – and then meet them there.

Don’t let the “curse of knowledge” hinder your influence.

Don’t get so far ahead of those you’re leading that they’re left floundering in your wake.

Don’t confuse fancy language with effective communication.

When my accountant finally sent me a checklist of the documents he needed, it took ten minutes to gather it all. He “uncomplicated” it for me - but only because I asked.

Let’s not wait to be asked. Let’s just “uncomplicate” things from the start.

Brevity and Meaning

You’ve probably never heard of Theodor Geisel, but you’ve read his books. He wrote under the pseudonym of “Dr. Seuss.”

In 1957, Random House released The Cat in the Hat, a book destined to hold a prominent place in millions of childhood memories in the decades to come. What made this story so remarkable to Geisel’s editor, Bennett Cerf, was that it’s 65 pages contained only 225 unique words.

Cerf was astounded that Geisel managed to tell this delightful story with such brevity and so he issued Geisel an interesting challenge. He gambled that Geisel could not write an equally meaningful book with a mere fifty words. Geisel accepted the challenge and on August 12, 1906, Random House published Green Eggs and Ham, a book of only fifty unique words over 62 pages. It outsold The Cat and the Hat and is still one of the bestselling children’s books of all time.

What if we took a page from Dr. Seuss? What if we stopped speaking as though more words necessarily made for more meaning?

We are a people long on information and short on wisdom, long on knowledge and short on meaning, long on explanation and short on clarity.

Think about your words. Spend them sparingly and spend them prudently - on wisdom, meaning, and clarity.