Andy Lykens

Innovating and operating through growth

communications

Sharing

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Sharing is hard. It exposes a point of view, a piece of context, that not everyone will want to receive. Not everyone will understand what you share and agreement is not yet met. You will almost certainly be misinterpreted.

Sharing is vulnerable. You’re admitting the things you don’t know while revealing what you’ve been focusing on. You’re asking people to listen to your idea. People always have opinions about new ideas.

Sharing is uncomfortable. You won’t be sure if your timing is right. You may not know who to share with first. You definitely haven’t thought of all the questions you’ll get and how to answer them.

Sharing is important. The only way to know if your idea works is to share it. The only way to gain allies is to share your perspective. Progress can only happen if we share.

Answer the question

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If you’re in a group of people asking and answering questions you might notice…

The person asking the question might not have confidence in their question, either because they’re not sure exactly what their question is, or because there’s something holding them back from being direct. They’re hoping that the answerer will interpret their meaning and answer the intent behind the question, rather than the question itself.

The person answering the question doesn’t. Instead, they state some belief that’s adjacent to the subject of the question, but they don’t address the question directly. Whether or not the question was direct is irrelevant.

If you’re a listener and you feel like there is a chasm between the question being asked and the question being answered, you’re probably right. You can raise your hand, clarify the question or the answer or both.

What you shouldn’t do is sit there, assuming that someone else has all the answers.

Editing

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As soon as we learn our first words we start telling stories. We tell stories to our families, our friends, and to strangers. We tell stories to ourselves.

The stories come in all shapes and sizes: short, long, fast, slow, tense, funny, sad, and on and on.

Stories can create connections and end relationships. They can build start-ups, get dogs adopted, or inspire a congregation. Stories can pass the time or pass on legacy.

Stories can be planted in peoples’ minds and they can grow there, for better or worse.

It’s worth considering what stories are planted in your mind and whether or not they’re helping you. You may not always be the original author of those stories, but you are certainly the editor and you decide what goes to print. So how a story got planted and what it says isn’t really the point, the point is that it’s relatively easy to make useful edits — a first step in giving yourself a happier ending.

Acronyms

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It’s possible to dizzy people by stringing together acronyms like paper dolls. They are faster to use than an actual team name or tool (most of the time). You may even feel like you have more cache around the office because you’re always using acronyms that not everyone in the room knows. And of course there’s the typing – the countless key strokes saved by quickly hammering out a few letters instead of a few words.

It’s also possible to avoid acronyms, especially in situations when you can’t be entirely confident everyone will understand them.

In the first scenario you save a little time, and feel like an insider. In the second, you can be more clear and inclusive in your communications.

You choose.