For me, one of the advantages of getting older, and hopefully wiser, is that I can be more relaxed about admitting that, sometimes, I just haven't got a clue what somebody is talking about!
As a consultant, one of the most important skills I have to demonstrate is clarity of communication. If a client doesn't understand what I'm saying, and I don't understand what they're saying, we're hardly going to have the most productive consultancy session!
It's vital that I take every opportunity I can to clarify ideas, make sure the client and I are truly on the same wave length, and that decisions and next steps are documented and minuted.
With my colleagues at Purple Vision, when we're knocking around new ideas, this still holds true. Last week, we had a 'teach-in', where David Williams-Jones gave us all an overview of our new product 'Total Sketch', which, simplistically, can help an organisation identify the true demographics of their supporter base, and identify and target people just like them.
This link here explains it all...in plain English!
http://www.purple-vision.com/product-service-detail.asp?Auto_ID=17&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=3
It's a very, very, very clever piece of kit - and the sort of thing that somebody with a) a geography degree and b) a distinguised career in charity database management should instantly get...
...but I didn't get it. I just simply had little or no idea how it worked at all.
I had two choices a) be quiet and pretend I understood what was going on to save face or b) be frank and explain that if David had explained it all in Korean it would not have been less clear.
I chose option b. I need to understand this tool to be able to explain it's value to our clients. I need to understand this tool in order to help deliver any projects related to it.
Ignorance would not be bliss, it'd come back and bite me very hard on my posterior. So, for the sake of several hand-in-the-air/'please Sir, can you explain it again?' moments, I've saved myself some future pain - and I'm sure it'll be worth it
Dear Earnest,
You forgot to mention that such admissions can also be worthwhile when you are sitting on the other side of the fence. They ensure that the presenter does not run away with himself and, as for the light bulb moment when clarity eventually dawned, it was worth the wait.
A fellow geographer
Posted by: David Williams-Jones | May 11, 2009 at 05:22 AM