There are two clues that someone doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The first is that they use an excessive number of variables and factors to explain the problem. The second is that they turn a legitimately complex situation into something overly simple—this is probably the most common way of demonstrating ignorance of the subject in question.
What you should be looking for isn’t some magical number of variables or factors, nor Twitter-style or soundbite-style brevity. What you should be looking for is clarity and coherence in thought. Does the explanation hold water; does it make sense, even though it might be lengthy?
A useful understanding is one that can be applied, tested, and produces results that are generally predictable and repeatable (perhaps not exactly right, but roughly right). A lazy one is one that just makes us feel better until we have to actually apply it.
The ability to separate signal from noise is a leadership competence essential to agility.
We’re agilityIRL. We deal in signal.
Watch for Separating Signal From Noise – Part Two where we continue the conversation.