Being a “super-master of the obvious,” or “master of the super obvious,” is a fun and friendly way to tease friends who keep saying the obvious or talking too much – but perhaps not a nickname to use in corporate settings. There are however times when you must Elaborate the Obvious, or to Filibuster with Intent.
You are not doing it to hear yourself talk – that’s narcissism or you’re just making things as Clear as Mud. Often times, techies in particular, focus on being as succinct as possible. They want to give the “correct answer,” in the fewest words. Sometimes however, the situation calls for elaboration and holding the microphone longer to achieve what you want.
What is obvious to a technical person is not obvious to a businessperson, and vice versa. What is obvious to a marketing person is not obvious to an accountant. At the very least we need to use enough words to communicate the importance, the urgency, or the impact of the situation. We may even want to use more words to explain why something is important, urgent, or impactful. Simply stating the problem, often in domain specific jargon, will leave the audience un-impressed, and the speaker misunderstood or ignored.
The masters of this technique will hold the attention of the audience to justify or improve their position, to assert the right to speak, to give kudos or elevate others, to connect the problem to the bigger picture (without derailing the discussion), to explain some technical details that show the amount of work needed, to describe the process, etc.
I spend a lot of time translating between teams and working across cultures, and I’ve seen this work well. Especially, if you find yourself in cross functional teams, cross cultural, or in newly formed teams the obvious may not be as obvious. While teams form, storm, and norm [1] it is totally normal to have different vocabulary, different context, different intentions. This causes frustration so the recommendation is to elaborate a bit more.
Think about the context you are coming from and the context the other people are coming from. Think about why you are making a point and how does the listener resonate with your reasons for brining something up. Do they value the same things, or do they have the same concerns that you have. Will a marketing person care that the data is stored in columnar or row fashion – or is it important to give that detail to show that you are nuanced and detailed in your approach. And, if you introduce domain specific you better explain it in simple words, be brief, and connect it to something the audience believes to be important.
You can even use the elaborate the obvious to pown, or dominate the other team members and establish your leadership and expertise. You need to be able to speak in the other person’s language and explain what you are doing and why it matters to them. I’ve seen this done by my good friend Steve and have imitated him since then. In a meeting with sales or marketing teams, for example, he explained the need for Kubernetes Containers instead of Instances. He connected it to what is important to those teams – the performance of the marketing and payment funnel. If you do not know what a marketing funnel is, or if you do not know what containers are then I hope I have made my point. Steve is so successful at holding attention because he speaks both technology and business and understands his audience. He is genuine, respectful and elaborates because it is important.
You will find that as you go higher in leadership positions you will have to elaborate more. It may even feel like you are filibustering or saying the obvious. But you are bringing people together, you are building a common vocabulary and culture, and you are emphasizing what is important and what good judgement looks like. You also want to get good at this to avoid verbal ticks like: “I think, but do not know…,” filler words like “um,” “like,” and weak words. You also must be comfortable with silence and be able to have the presence to get your questions answered.
Related skills:
- Similar skills: Clear as Mud
- Supporting skills: Avoid Weak Words, Avoid Filler Words, Fall Back to Intent
References:
- [1] Forming Storming Norming Performing: Successful Communication in Groups and Teams (Third Edition), by Donald B. Egolf https://amzn.to/3GJoFYe
