The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place
- George Bernhard Shaw
Once upon a time, in the not-so-far-away land of Silicon Valley, a data scientist decided to pitch their latest machine learning marvel to a room full of senior executives at their company. Picture the scene: slides filled with algorithms more complex and layered than a beautiful Napa Valley Pinot Noir, buzzwords flying around like confetti, and an enthusiasm that could power a small village.
Unfortunately, the only thing missing was a translator for the execs, who - visibly uncomfortable - looked as though they were trying to decipher hieroglyphics without the Rosetta Stone. What we had here was a - very expensive - failure to communicate.
Allow me to introduce you to the concept of "Cognitive Courtesy," a fancy term for something that should be as natural as breathing but somehow isn’t: tailoring your communication to ensure maximum effectiveness given a specific audience and context. Cognitive Courtesy is all about making sure your message doesn’t just leave your mouth but actually lands somewhere in the vicinity of understanding in your listener’s brain.
Here’s the lowdown on making it work:
Efficiency vs. effectiveness: Dropping technical jargon like it’s hot might make you feel smart, but it usually leaves your audience confused and unsure. People remember how you make them feel much more readily than what you talked about and making them feel less than smart is not a great way to win friends or influence people, nor does it open checkbooks or the path to corporate upward mobility.
Elegant simplicity: Cognitive Courtesy is the art of translating complex ideas into accessible language. Properly translating complex technical, financial, and business concepts into approachable language can be like practicing a foreign language – consistency and practice are key. Remember, there is a big difference between elegant simplicity – effective for a non-expert audience – and “talking down” to listeners. “Translation” happens among peers, “dumbing it down” decidedly not so.
Explainability has many audiences: With AI, everyone wants to know what’s under the hood: from fellow data scientists to senior executives to regulators all the way to end-users who have a right and a need to understand what’s happening and what role AI is playing (see White House AI Bill of Rights, European AI Act, etc.).
Cool. So how do you apply this in the real world?
Pre-translate your geek-speak: Imagine conversations in many different settings and with many different audiences. Think of creative ways of translating “What do you?” and “What are you working on” for your CEO, your buddy, your doctor, and other audiences. What will resonate? What will be effective?
Let’s say you are about 12 weeks into your latest NLP project and run into the head of your bank in the elevator.
“What are you up to?”
“Oh, I just finished this massive lemmatization and ontology project for our NLP feedback synthesizer and…”
“Oh, very interesting…I’ll see you later!”
vs.
”What are you up to?”
“I have been teaching our AI system to read and really understand about 40,000 calls a day. It’s like we can listen to the whole call center and immediately see what really matters.”
“Wow, tell me more!”
AEA - Always Explain Acronyms. Acronyms are the medals on your verbal uniform and they are sure to make communication more efficient with peers and impress people “in the know.” But unless you want to play a solo game of alphabet soup, spell it out. Literally. All the time, and repeatedly.
Practice makes perfect: Just like learning a new language or skill, keep at it and find new ways of applying Cognitive Courtesy in real life.
In the end, Cognitive Courtesy is really about boosting communication effectiveness and helping people understand each other. You’ll probably be surprised how much more you will get out of presentations, interactions, pitches, and chats. So, let’s raise a glass to avoiding the illusion of communication and actually getting our point across!
If you’d like to discuss this and other AI topics 1-1, please feel free to book some time with me on Intro.co