Communication Breakdown

My dad used to call the little icons on his ’88 Ford Escort’s dashboard “idiot lights”. Why? Because they substituted the nuance and complexity of detailed analog gauges with big dumb binaries:

NEEDS OIL NOW! {light} vs. KEEP CALM & CARRY ON {dark].

“They think we’re idiots, hiding the details like that.” he grumbled.

“Or maybe they figure you don’t care.” I offered back.

As a technology communicator, I think of the “idiot light” tradeoff daily.

The boardroom crowd rarely has the technical background, the business-case, or the patience to get down with the arcane. Which is why side-sermons about the P vs. NP Problem get ejected in favor of speedy, but not-quite-right abstractions, metaphors, or over-simplifications: “Quantum is crazy fast!”

The server-room crowd, on the other hand, can detect charlatanism from 3 klicks out, and doesn’t have the patience for half-baked half-truths. No matter how “crazy fast”.

How to tune your message when ½ of the room is liable to think you’re… an idiot?

What I’ve come to learn: Before you talk, listen.

Specifically, consider if your audience is most interested in the 1.) “what”, the 2.) “so what”, or the 3.) “now what” of your topic du jour.