
Simplify Your Message, and Repeat Often - andyraskin
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/business/john-lilly-simplify-your-message-and-repeat-often.html
======
dceddia
This is a really interesting point:

 _When I was a V.C. at first, I would just ask my questions and kind of poke,
poke, poke, poke. And now I’ll say: “Look, I’m going to ask some things, and
this might be kind of awkward, but I’m just going to say it, and let’s work
our way through it. And it doesn’t mean I don’t believe in you and your
company. I just want to understand where you are and what you think. I’m going
to ask some things and they might be wrong, but let’s figure some things out
together.”_

\--

I've noticed that people have different assumptions about what it _means_ to
ask questions. Some folks (like the interviewee here) just ask away, because
they want information -- their questions have no malicious intent behind them.

But on the receiving side, this can cause problems. Some people, when asked
probing questions (or any questions at all), will get defensive. Just the fact
that someone is _asking_ must mean they think something is _wrong_. Questions
like "Why did you choose Node.js instead of Java?" can be (and I think often
are) interpreted as "The questioner thinks I made the wrong choice, so I have
to defend my choice now."

People in the tech community seem particularly affected by this assumption.
Interesting that this VC ran into that problem too.

~~~
tchock23
Here is a little hack around that to not put people on the defensive. Instead
of asking "Why," say "For what reasons." It makes people less defensive.
(Source: Was a qualitative market researcher for 10 years, learned this
through hundreds of customer interviews).

~~~
bbcbasic
I'm going to use this when asking about legacy code. Thanks!

~~~
civilian
My go-to answer for questions about legacy code is: "We did it for legacy
reasons." ;)

~~~
bbcbasic
Or: git blame | grep exployees.txt

(pardon my lack of grep/git command line knowledge!)

------
TheBiv
This Q&A really hit home for me.

 _Q: Early leadership lessons for you?

A: I didn’t understand the role of simplicity and messaging early on. One of
the things that happened at one of my start-ups was that I would get bored
saying the same thing every day. So I decided to change it up a little bit.
But then everybody had a different idea of what I thought because I was mixing
it up.

So my big lesson was the importance of a simple message, and saying it the
same way over and over. If you’re going to change it, change it in a big way,
and make sure everyone knows it’s a change. Otherwise keep it static._

~~~
caseysoftware
The best thing I've even seen in this space is the Brand Strategy Canvas. It's
like the Lean Canvas or Business Model Canvas but walks you through the
positioning and messaging for a startup.

At my last company, we didn't use it and had pieces of a strategy, message,
and an awful name. Then we sat down and spent ~2 hours and worked through it
block by block. It was painful but on the other side, we had a better name, a
clearer Vision, a simple way to describe that Vision, and lots of sound bites
to use in conversations, blog posts, etc.

My only complaint is that we didn't do it a few months earlier.

Here's a video of the creators walking through it:
[https://vimeo.com/112098978](https://vimeo.com/112098978)

~~~
mark_integerdsv
This is super interesting and great timing for me but I can't seem to access
the PDF anywhere,

Various links that I have found through google all point to what seems to be
an old half used domain...

Any suggestions?

~~~
caseysoftware
Looking for a copy of it.. drop me an email and I'll see if I can dig up a
copy.

------
adamjernst
> The other thing I would say is to stay close to professions that create and
> make things, and stay away from derivative professions like finance. I think
> makers increasingly have the power in our society.

Wow, interesting words from someone who works in finance.

------
User23
Like for example speaking at a 4th grade level and having simple four word
slogans?

------
MrZongle2
FTA: _" I remember when I was in second grade, we needed a new TV. All my
friends would just go to the store and buy one, but my dad bought a Heathkit,
and we had to put together the parts."_

What an awesome parent.

------
beat
Although message consistency is important, what message are you trying to
communicate, and to whom?

------
grandalf
Please let's ban paywalled articles or else change the link to a google search
so that the free version can be clicked.

~~~
grzm
The web link is the google search. Paying for news is arguably one of the ways
to improve news quality, and quality news is valued by many HN users. The
submission includes the source. If you don't want to visit a paywalled source,
HN already provides you with the information you need to make that decision.

~~~
grandalf
> Paying for news is arguably one of the ways to improve news quality, and
> quality news is valued by many HN users.

The NYT has lost its position as the paper of record and has lost so much
credibility. I used to be close to re-subscribing, but the horrible coverage
of the 2016 election has helped me vow never to subscribe again. The NYT is
America's Pravda and it continues to disgrace itself by trying to create a
narrative to supports its political interests (Judith Miller, etc.)

Posting paywalled stories is an attempt to help the organization generate
revenue, much like posting a link that adds an item to cart and funnels the
user right to the checkout page.

~~~
robbiemitchell
I don't understand your point.

\- Is paying for news categorically bad, or is it OK?

\- If it is bad, why do you think volunteers will magically produce better
results than paid journalists/editors/etc.?

\- If it is OK that news gets paid for, why do you object to posting paid news
sources on HN?

\- If you do not object to paid sources, but only to some sources, and the
sources are indicated when the link is posted, why do you think they should
the system should prevent the links from being clicked rather than let users
choose which sources to visit?

~~~
grandalf
> Is paying for news categorically bad, or is it OK?

Imagine if many HN posts were links to academic journals with subscriptions
costing $250 per year. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not fun to
continually click on links and be greeted by a paywall.

> If it is bad, why do you think volunteers will magically produce better
> results than paid journalists/editors/etc.?

It has nothing to do with how the writers are paid, it has to do with how the
publication generates revenue.

> If it is OK that news gets paid for, why do you object to posting paid news
> sources on HN?

I simply don't like clicking on a link and finding myself at a paywall. I'd
prefer to be able to filter out all such links and avoid ever knowing they're
there. They amount to teaser clickbait headlines for content that is not free
to read.

> If you do not object to paid sources, but only to some sources, and the
> sources are indicated when the link is posted, why do you think they should
> the system should prevent the links from being clicked rather than let users
> choose which sources to visit?

The source is low contrast and I rarely notice it when skimming the home page.
My suggestion of converting the link to a google search to allow the content
to be freely accessed would solve the problem.

~~~
robbiemitchell
FWIW, I believe outlets are shutting down (or have already shut down) the
Google search loophole.

------
notjustanymike
I think I get it. Let me try:

"Make America Great Again!" "Make America Great Again!" "Make America Great
Again!"

Ok. Got it.

~~~
venomsnake
Spot on. Simple focused. Connecting on the deepest possible level. It was sad
that the vehicle carrying it was not the best one. But it is incredibly strong
and potent.

~~~
pixl97
#FightingForUs, #StrongerTogether, or is it #ImWithHer today?

>The importance of a consistent message is all the more important given the
candidate Clinton is on a collision course to face in November: master
promoter Donald Trump. --Boston Globe, May 2016

