Whistle Wisdom Simplicity

There is a remote Australian aboriginal language called Guugu Yimithirr that doesn’t use object based coordinates like “left” or “right”, “in front of” or “behind”, to describe direction. Instead, The Guugu Yimithirr use cardinal directions, “north” and “south”, “east” and “west”, in all instances to describe location.

It is not your left hand but your east hand, assuming you are facing south. If you are facing north that same hand now becomes your west hand. It is not hard to see how this complexity can create confusion. Just imagine trying to tell someone in your office where the bathroom is using cardinal directions - “First head due south about 100 feet, then start to turn southwest through the cubicles followed by a hard eastern turn. Continue east until you see the printer in the hallway’s northwest corner...” You get the point.

Even among the initiated this method can be challenging. Take the story about a musicologist named Colin McPhee who, upon recognizing an exceptional talent for dancing in a young boy, but realizing that his village lacked a dance instructor, sent him to stay with a teacher in a different village. Upon checking on the boy’s progress a few days later he was surprised to find him frustrated and unhappy. The reason - being unfamiliar with the coordinates of this new village the boy was unable to follow the cardinal directions for the dance steps when he was told, take “three steps east” or “bend southwest”.

The corporate world is renowned for its jargon, and in marketing especially, we tend to make up words and use overly complicated language when simple English would suffice. I have seen many a brand document that describes a brand’s Essence, Identity and Image all in the same presentation. Is there really a difference or are we just creating complexity?

Similarly, I have worked through processes where the semantics of language were debated for weeks due to the lack of clarity surrounding the meaning of terms. In extreme instances the debate around the language of the process to build a marketing plan overtook the actual building of the plan.

Just look at this now infamous Stephen Colbert “Wheat Thins Sponsortunity” video if you need further proof. So unbelievable was the language used that most people I spoke to about the spoof were dubious that Mr. Colbert was actually reading a genuine “Strategic Brief” provided by Wheat Thins (he was).

How people talk not only changes how they think, but it also impacts the perceptions of the people they are talking to. The late comedian George Carlin best exemplified this in his classic bit about euphemistic language in describing how the WW1 term “Shell Shock” evolved into “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” by the time of Vietnam. Both say the same thing, one is just a little softer and less direct, and in turn evokes a more subdued response.

To that end, as we replace basic English with more "sophisticated" language we often just create complexity where there should be simplicity. Instead of enhancing communication our language impedes it.

Space Shuttles and Whistles
Richard Feynman was widely considered the greatest physi­cist since Einstein and he had a great disdain for verbiage that confused clarity of thought. In 1986 he was appointed to the investigating committee for the space shuttle Challenger disaster. In this capacity while working with a group of engineers who were showing him a space shuttle that exhibited a “high-frequency vibration” problem, the engineers kept, in Mr. Freyman’s words, “referring to the problem by some complicated name - a pressure induced vorticity oscillatory wa-wa or something.”

After considerable discussion one of the greatest scientific minds of the twentieth century sat confused by what these engineers were explaining to him until finally Mr. Feynman asked “Oh, you mean a whistle!”

The engineers’ replied, “Yes, it exhibits the characteristics of whistle.”, and from there Mr. Feynman was able to solve the problem instantly.

The point is that if something can’t be simply said then it can’t be simply done. Stay away from jargon and speak simple English whenever possible and there will be less confusion around what needs to be accomplished. Don’t say something is a “pressure induced vorticity oscillatory” when it really is just a whistle.