‘Mystification is simple; clarity is the hardest thing of all’. Julian Barnes
The world is more complex now than it has ever been. The internet has both shrunk our world and saturated it with ‘information’ that waits but a few key-taps away from us at all times. A range of media, including social media, bombard us with facts, opinions, truths, half-truths and lies, and these are tailored to our online routines by clever algorithms that we cannot see – information consumes our attention. And then there’s the scale and pace of constant technological change that creates a thrilling and disorientating backdrop to our daily lives. In the midst of this bewildering complexity, clarity is like a beacon.
The first line of the introduction to Yuval Noah Harari’s breathtaking book, ‘21 lessons for the 21st Century’, also emphasises clarity: ‘In a world deluged by irrelevant information, clarity is power’. Harari is talking about the importance of clarity of vision when it comes to joining the debate about the future of humanity. That is no doubt absolutely true, but in this post I’m talking far more prosaically about clarity: about its power to – in Julian Barnes’ word – demystify our daily lives.
What does clarity look like?
It’s easier, in fact, to describe a lack of clarity, and the impact this has. When people aren’t clear, they launch into words without thought, they meander, and they plough on regardless. They get to the end of a long monologue, and you wonder what they’ve actually said. A lack of clarity confuses and frustrates people, it wastes a huge amount of time, and it reduces everyone’s effectiveness.
Thinking positively, when I think about clarity, I mean clarity of thought, clarity of communication and clarity of action. Clarity of thought and communication sit neatly together and involve:
1. Deciding what to think about/focus on; a good rule of thumb is no more than 3 or 4 things at a time
2. Making things really simple: if I were explaining this to a 10 year-old, how would I say it?
I have read countless school action plans and strategy documents and development plans that drown you in detail and technical vocabulary. Aside from the author, no-one knows what’s in them and only a small portion of what’s in them gets done or gets done well.
3. Keeping it really brief – it takes a long time to say so little
Clarity of action
Once we are clear on the few vital things we need to focus on at this time, clarity of action is about deciding the best action to take to tackle those priorities. Again, a key question is, what is the simplest way to do this? The clearest way? The way that will be most easily understood? Keeping it really simple gives the best chance of things being done.
How do we get it?
By doing the above: focusing on a small number of things at a time; making sure those are the right things – Nero deciding his number 1 priority is to play his fiddle all the time is not going to help anyone; being super-brief and simple; and breaking larger things into small chunks: a 12 year-old may want more than anything else to be a renowned scientist who changes the world, but in the here and now they need to focus on their school work and learn as much as they can every day – by all means look to the horizon as you strive forward, but also keep an eye on where you are stepping …
Why do we want it?
Out of clarity comes purpose, and achievement/success. I remember being struck by a Will Smith interview (you can find it on YouTube), in which he described his father setting his brother and him the challenge, in their teens, of building a wall. The boys were daunted. Until they realised that they shouldn’t be thinking about building the wall – they should be focusing on laying this one brick as well as a brick can be laid. And then the next one brick … They built the wall. Out of clarity came success.
The next step?
If we all accept that clarity is an important part of everything, and that we should all focus on being clear, and we try our best, maybe that would be enough?
