Case Study
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Maya, a brilliant developer, runs a software consulting business helping mid-sized companies optimize their tech infrastructure.

While Maya is extremely intelligent, she spoke long, with a lot of words that went right over people's heads.
The client would nod, having no idea what she just said but it sounded impressive so they’d take it. And if they did ask for an explanation, they’d get frustrated as the answer was only even more complicated.

Her contractors would get long voicenotes of task assignments that could have been written in 2 sentences. Projects would get delayed because instructions were confusing and sometimes they’d build the wrong thing, having to start from scratch.
Even Maya’s friends would cut off her off mid-sentence as they’d get bored while she was explaining herself.

Maya thought people just didn’t know what she wanted from them so she got even more detailed. Sending longer emails with more explanation and having more meetings to clarify. But the problem wasn't the amount of communication it was how she was communicating.

This wasn't about Maya being too smart or too technical.

This was a thinking skill weakness.

Every time you communicate, whether it's an email, a presentation, or a quick message, you're using some of your 28 thinking skills.

When those thinking skills are strong, people understand you clearly. When they're weak, lots of miscommunication happens.
For Maya, the thinking skill that needed work was precision.

Not precision in the sense of being detailed.
Precision in her choice of words.

Once Maya improved her thinking skill of precision, people actually understood what she was saying and projects were able to move faster.


Here’s the thing, because we use many thinking skills for communication, there may be a different thinking skill that is getting in your way of communication.
Find out which one of your thinking skills are weak by taking this assessment: www.lifepixuniversity.com/cf


Precision

Precision is the thinking of doing exactly what is needed in that situation.

If you’re cutting wood for legs of a table, you need to cut 4 legs precisely or else you’ll have an unbalanced table.

In communication, you’ve got to say exactly what needs to be said, or else you’ll have an unbalanced understanding.
If you say too little people are missing information.
If you say too much, people get overwhelmed by all the information.


Many people with ADHD, including Maya, struggle with being precise when communicating for various reasons.
Sometimes it’s because they don’t have patience for details.
Sometimes it’s because the information is not precise in their own brain.
Sometimes it’s because, as they’re sharing the information, they remember 100 other things and forget what their original point was.

So we can work on precision, or we can solve the root problem as to why you’re struggling to be precise in the first place.

Personally, I like to solve the root problem, than it makes working on precision so much easier.

However in Maya’s case, she didn’t have time to wait until the underlying issue was solved.

So while we worked on the root issue, we also worked on precision so she can get results quickly.
If this is the situation you are in, I highly recommend, you take the time to ask yourself:
Why is it a challenge for me to be precise? What part of speaking precisely do I not like? And solve that issue.

Meanwhile, I’ll share with you 5 short-term strategies I did with Maya to help her improve precision immediately. (Number 5 is my favorite, I do it with team members regularly)

5 Ways to Improve Working Memory:

1) Stop and think.
Before you say what you want to say, take an extra sentence to think about what you’re trying to say.
Even if people don’t give you the time to think, take the time to think.
There is nothing wrong with pause as you’re thinking.


2) If you are visual, imagine the words before you say them.
See the sentence in your brain. What is it exactly?
Since you’re not gonna be able to see an extra-long run-on sentence in brain, it will help think about the words more precisely.


3) Before you enter a meeting, write down keep points on what you want to talk about. Most of the time, you don’t need to rehearse, word for word on what you’re gonna say. But taking that extra minute to clarify to yourself, will make it easier for you to stay on point.


4) Start with your point. Most of the time, people don’t need to hear the whole backstory and all the options. Say your point first. Pause. See if people understand. If not then give more context and explanation.


5) Define words you use often. Even if you think everyone knows what you’re talking about, give the word a definition.
What does it mean when we say “system”? What does it mean when we “marketing campaign”, etc ?


Bonus:
If you want to work on the actual thinking skill of precision, try the following exercise:

Pull up an email you sent recently and highlight the most important information. Help your brain see what was actually important verses just supporting information.
Do it multiple times, till you get the hang of it.

And next time, before you send an email, read it out loud.
What information here is actually important? And what’s just filling up space?


Remember, clear over clever is not just a cute marketing phrase,
It helps extremely well in all sorts of communication.


My favorite part of Maya’s story was when she told me the following story:

She was in a mastermind meeting where they’re going around the room, everyone sharing their insights. Person after person just... talking. Or more like rambling.

Then Maya spoke.
One clear sentence.
Straight to the point.
The room went quiet.

The facilitator said, "That was really profound. Can you repeat what you just said?"

Maya laughed when she told me,
"ST, I didn't say anything special. Everyone else was just rambling. So when I spoke precisely, it sounded profound."

Maya realized the change wasn't just in what she was saying. It was in how she thought about communication entirely.


She used to think precision meant sharing it all, being detailed and impressive.
Now she knows precision means using exactly the right words to convey exactly what you mean.


Cheers to Peak Brain Performance!