Less is More

I recently heard a sales trainer wrap up a day long workshop with a review that included the following:

• 6 OBJECTIVES listed at the beginning of the meeting.
• 5 PRIORITIES for winning.
• 4 BUSINESS DRIVERS for making business happen.
• 7 PERFORMANCE FACTORS for determining gaps in results.
• and 10 RESOURCES from the meeting to help attendees succeed.

I hope his goal was to overwhelm the group with ideas and not consistency and retention. Our brains (even the most brilliant of them) have limited shelf space. And once the shelf is full, you have to take something off to put something new on.

In training and knowledge management, we naturally think more is better. The more knowledge and ideas I share, the better they will do. The danger of throwing everything at your learner is that they will only remember a fraction of what you cover and that could be the least important part. Never sacrifice the most critical learning for some good ideas that could be helpful. It's better to give your learners bite-sized learning and have most of it stick.

I enjoy posting on Twitter and presenting at Pecha Kucha because they both force me to edit and be brief. They provide excellent practices in the fine are of concise communication.