How to Become a Better Thinker in No Time Flat
Description: Explore the surprising connection between clear communication and clear thinking. This blog challenges the common belief that clear thoughts lead to clear communication, arguing instead that the process of communicating refines our thinking. Discover how clarity can be achieved through dialogue, feedback, and the power of language in shaping our thoughts.
"Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
There's a belief we each carry, a belief that is so deeply ingrained it seems almost intuitive. That belief is this:
-> Clear thinking leads to clear communication.
We are under the impression that if we sit alone with our thoughts for long enough, polishing them to perfection, they will finally be ready to present to the world in all their refined glory.
But what if we've been looking at this from the wrong end of the telescope? What if it's not the idea that polishes the message, but the message that polishes the idea?
Ethics Embarrassment
I was a philosophy major in college.
Since I planned to pursue a PhD in philosophy of language, in my senior year I jumped at the opportunity to be a teaching assistant for one of my favorite professors, Dr. Better Wambui.
Most of my work was providing additional support for students during office hours, helping them understand tricky moral philosophy concepts for their assignments and papers.
One day she asked if I'd like to teach an entire class on my own.
I was so excited to get a taste of my future as a philosophy professor. She assigned me a lecture on Immanuel Kant's ethical framework.
Perfect, I thought. I know this inside and out.
The day came and I walked up to the front of the room, full of confidence with a swagger in my step. I started to talk, but quickly lost my place.
What did I just say?
Did that make sense?
What was the point of this?
I started sweating and rambling incoherently before finally going silent. Dr. Wambui bailed me out, and I slumped into my chair, confidence shattered.
We've got it backwards
The mind doesn't always think in straight lines.
Our thoughts, when left to themselves and unexpressed, can resemble a Jackson Pollock painting - beautiful but chaotic.
It's when we bring language into the picture, with its structure and logic, that our ideas are actually tested and shaped.
Often it's like trying to pour water into a vase. The formless water takes the shape of its container. In expressing our thoughts, we give them a similar structure.
Think about the last time you tried to explain an idea you're really excited about to your boss, colleague, friend, or significant other.
In your mind, the concept was clear as crystal. But as you try to explain it, you find pockets of uncertainty, gaps in your understanding that you hadn't noticed before. You stumble over your words, double back and re-explain, and sometimes give up altogether with an exasperated, "Is this making sense?"
Suddenly, you're not just the teacher, you're also the student.
Collisions are critical
It's been said that if you want to truly understanding a concept, teach it to someone else.
Have you heard of “rubber duck debugging?” It’s when a computer programmer explains their code, line by line, to an inanimate object - often a rubber duck they keep on their desk.
The act of having to verbalize and simplify their work to 'explain' it to the duck helps them see their code from a new perspective, potentially spotting errors or areas for improvement.
And then there's feedback, the often overlooked gift of communication. When someone else asks a probing question, shares a differing perspective, or provides a gentle challenge - they hold up a mirror to our thoughts, enabling us to see them from angles we might have missed.
It's a refining process, like a sculptor chipping away at a block of marble to reveal the masterpiece within.
In order for ideas to reach their final form, they must collide with other ideas. Which means, they must be communicated to the external world.
This may be in writing or spoken out loud - so long as they don't stay locked inside our minds.
Build from clarity up
As we pull the threads of our thoughts through the needle of language, we often find ourselves weaving unexpected patterns.
New connections spark into existence, examples surface, ideas take flight. It's the magic of brainstorming sessions, where words collide and coalesce, giving birth to innovation.
That's why when I had to choose a name for my consulting firm, I chose Clarity Up - because where most people work from idea down, we build from clarity up.
And clarity starts with communicating. The only way to get the right words in the right order is to take them out of your head and smash them into the world.
So the next time you find yourself wrestling with a complex idea, talk about it, write about it.
Allow the words to sculpt the thoughts.
And when the world responds, you may just find clarity staring back at you..
