Send to Kindle

In an earlier post, we touched upon the subject of measurement. If you can’t measure, you can’t manage. Therefore, mathematics, graphs, visualizations, and infographics have been invented to measure and communicate the size, scope, shape, severity, and implications of a problem or opportunity.

If you think about it, these are simply tools for communicating with numbers. It is a lost opportunity if the analyst is unable to communicate what he or she sees about the problem using numbers.

If you broaden the concept, having the “language” to describe a problem is a missing link in most workplaces. Whether it is self-analysis, or asking for help, or issuing instructions, you need to describe what you feel, what you see, what you think, and use the right words and symbols so that your audience “gets it” and is spurred to act. Different situations require different words and will resonate with different people. A businessman, a filmmaker, a poet, and a monk will talk about ambition differently, and each will be interpreted differently.

It is no coincidence that people who are well read, versatile, and eclectic, have a better chance of expressing themselves. In sports, the concept of “cross-training” was promoted to both build an all round athlete, and to prevent boredom while training. This is applicable in business as well. Develop your hobbies and interests to take advantage of an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving.

Being able to “feel” and “sense” your way to a solution is cool, but it is really awesome if you can describe what you feel, express yourself, and take action.

Thus the proposal that language is a form of measurement, and that is why it is important.