Have You Done Your Homework?

We live in an age of information. As Yuval Noah Harari explains it in his latest book Nexus, in the current environment truth gets buried and is harder to decipher than ever before.

Truth is much harder to create and publish as it takes more work to research, triangulate, and distill through the mountains of information available on a topic, as opposed to lies and opinions which are simple and easy to send out into the world with pace and ease.

This makes it easy to understand why expert analysis and insight is one of the most valuable commodities on the planet - especially in our professional environments. A Chief Financial Officer is not there to provide the numbers, they are there to uncover the stories behind the numbers so others can make wise decisions. A Real Estate Agent is not there to post an advert, wack signs up, and put brochures out. They are there to answer all the questions about the location, the market, the history/present/future of a community, and where the value of a property lies. A teacher is not there to regurgitate information, they are there to help student comprehend that information.

This perspective is helpful for us as subject matter experts (SME's) and leaders. If we want to be trusted then we had better provide others with the insights and truths that will help them. Knowing this means our communication becomes clearer and noticeably more powerful.

The person with the best analysis is respected. The person able to communicate this simply, elegantly, and easily is the most trusted.

Antony Green, the election and political analyst for the ABC retired on the weekend as Australia voted for its next federal government. A tribute video featuring political heavy weights for the last 30-40 years all sang Green's praises as simply being the best.

You can watch the vide here:

Some noticeable quotes include:

"Antony Green is the GOAT, the Greatest Of All Time in bringing election news and analysis to Australians"

- Former Labour Prime Minister Julia Gillard

"Antony Green is probably the most factual and professional person covering elections. He has total respect for facts and is very careful about his judgements"

- Former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott

"I knew he looked at it carefully, he never got carried away. He'd done his homework"

- Former Prime Minister John Howard

Not only is Green seen as an authentic personality, but he built a reputation on being the reliable, trustworthy, and credible voice of Australian elections. It made me reflect on what we can learn from this to be more credible as leaders of people, teams, and any room we are in.

What is the wider context

In football (soccer), players constantly work in triangles. When a player has the ball, team mates get into spaces so the ball carrier has two options to pass to. This is hard to defend against and opens up many possibilities. But, this tactic can be used differently depending on the context of a match. The way triangles are used is either good or poor depending on the context of the scoreboard, the clock, and the players involved. As the AFL becomes professionalised we see this same tactic being employed to retain possession and open different parts of the ground.

A good pass is only a good pass when the context is understood. Some players are good at seeing this, recognising it, and making good decisions. In our professional environments, it is the person able to see and communicate the wider context that has the most credibility in a room. Antony Green was an expert in seeing the entire election map while analysing individual seats. He could read the updates and their implications for local and national races simultaneously. In your world, being the person with 'the balcony view' adds value in many ways and helps drive a group towards realisations, decisions, and effective action.

Where are we on the map

A way to communicate context is to orientate people onto a map. Antony Green developed and used computer programs to show people what is happening via visuals. It always makes me laugh when people say they are a 'visual person'. As a species we are all visual and respond favourably to visual stimulus. As babies we read micro-expressions from our parents to understand where to look, what to do, and even how to feel (The Connected Species, Mark Williams). We are constantly processing thousands of data points, trying to retain them, and trying to recognise patterns. The cognitive load is heavy, especially in the tidal wave of information we experience every day.

If you are the person able to take big ideas, complex scenarios, or difficult problems and show them on a simple graph, table, or model (i.e. a map) then this will be helpful. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to communicate every little detail of an idea. This undermines our credibility as it makes the information too difficult to understand. Green is the king of visuals - his models and graphics are possibly more famous than he is.        

What progress is being made

Not only did Green interpret data and communicate it, but he built the systems able to harvest the data, organise it, and help people access it. With a background in mathematics, computing, and politics he created the systems able to sync with live electoral commission vote counts to gain instant modelling for the ABC's election coverage. Green created the Predictive Pendulum and Senate Calculators as well as the Vote Compass which helps voters understand their own political persuasions. Now, his technology has become industry standard.

The person able to bring solutions to create team, company, or even industry progress are the ones able to garner the most credibility. The All Blacks Rugby Team have the mantra "Leave the jersey in a better place", and this sentiment is open for all of us. Don't just sell the house, develop ways all your colleagues can sell more houses. Don't deliver the product on time, develop the ways future products can be developed quicker/easier/cheaper. Don't fill the vacancy in your team, develop a culture where everyone wants to stay (and join!)

Leave it better than you found it. Be an agent of progress. Create the better jersey.

Homework used to be something we did after school in between hanging out with friends, playing, and generally messing about. Now, it is the act of engaging with the wider context, building the narrative through easy to understand visuals, and creating progress. When I run strategy workshops I use the term "be the data bank" referring to the act of being the person constantly talking, listening, and collating all the data points on the relevant pain points people are experiencing. This is where your expertise can be leveraged. 

This is valuable and therefore powerful. It is where anyone can build more credibility and influence in our chosen fields. Harari points to the information age only getting started, so doing the homework to be the Antony Green of your world is one of the smartest ways any professional can invest their time and effort.