The Curse of Knowledge

The Curse of Knowledge!

No, it isn't a reference to Adam and Eve partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is an idea that the Heath brothers unpack in their book, Made to  Stick.   (By the way, do a  Google search to find a picture of Adam and Eve eating of the fruit of the tree and you'll see how hard it is to find a PG picture for this post.)

The curse of knowledge is a simple idea and yet it highlights a challenge for smart people. In essence, there is an enormoug "information imbalance" between the communicator and her or his audience. The greater the level of expertise on the part of the communicator, the greater the information imbalance.

The more you know about a topic, the less aware you are of how little others know about that same topic. Howard Gardner (in Leading Minds) says most people on most subjects have the equivalent of a "third grade knowledge" on the topic. Are they smarter than a 5th grader? According to Gardner, nope!

Therefore, you the communicator, talk specifics and details that are way over the head and under the radar of interest of the average listener. They tune us out and turn us off. And no communicator wants that.

Great discipline is required on the part of the communicator (mentor, teacher, preacher, author, leader) to be clear and simple, to be both understandable and memorable, and to be enlightening and transforming.

It is not that the amount of our knowledge is bad...it isn't. What is bad is our failure to understand the information imbalance and to communicate accordingly.

Here are a few tips to deal with the information imbalance.

ONE:  Remember - less is more. Boy oh boy do I have to remember that. My tendency is always to think, just give them some information - they'll like it. (I have a friend who once did a 17 point sermon.)

TWO:  Concrete is better then abstract. Not only do we the experts communincate too much information, but we also communicate the wrong kind of information. We give too much in terms of abstract theory and not enough in the form of concrete examples. Again, I am guilty of this because I love interesting and intriging ideas.  Martin Luther King's, "I Have a Dream" speech is powerful in providing concrete images for his "dream idea."

THREE:  Keep it simple. Simple is not the same as simplistic or stupid. Complexity can be slowly provided and gradually built as you link lots of simple ideas together. But again, do it incrementally and progressively.

FOUR:  Think in terms of one idea and then illustrate that idea in multiple ways with concrete specifics, with story, with example and above all - with a powerful image.

FIVE:  Always ask - why would my audience be interested in what I am saying? If you say - because it is true or because it is interesting to you, THOSE ARE NOT adequate answers. I think some of the genius of Rick Warren (and Joyce Meyers) is that they know what people are interested in. They know their needs, their starting points and address them.

Look back over one of your most recent lessons, sermons, classes , motivational speeches or whatever. Look to see if you had information excess. Look to see how well you did with these five tips.

Brian Rice