Novices perceive concrete details as concrete details. Experts perceive concrete details as symbols of patterns and insights that they have learned through years of experience. And, because they are capable of seeing a higher level of insight, they naturally want to talk on a higher level. They want to talk about chess strategies, not about bishops moving diagonally.
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There is a paradox evident in those who build the great companies. On one hand, they concentrate on high-level vision and strategy while, on the other hand, they involve themselves with seemingly trivial details. The acceptance of the paradox lies in understanding that details are not trivial. Details matter. The most effective leaders are obsessed with both vision and details. They are fanatical about getting the details right.
How you deal with certain details is actually a very high level statementâa statement about the core values of the company. Involving yourself with certain details can send a very powerful symbolic message.
Mission statements, synergies, strategies, visionsâthey are often ambiguous to the point of being meaningless. Naturally sticky ideas are full of concrete images âice-filled bathtubs, apples with razorsâbecause our brains are wired to remember concrete data. In proverbs, abstract truths are often encoded in concrete language: âA bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
Concrete language helps people, especially novices, understand new concepts. Abstraction is the luxury of the expert. If youâve got to teach an idea to a room full of people, and you arenât certain what they know, concreteness is the only safe language.
Using concreteness as a foundation for abstraction is not just good for mathematical instruction; it is a basic principle of understanding. Novices crave concreteness. Have you ever read an academic paper or a technical article or even a memo and found yourself so flummoxed by the fancy abstract language that you were crying out for an example?
Or maybe youâve experienced the frustration of cooking from a recipe that was too abstract: âCook until the mixture reaches a hearty consistency.â Huh? Just tell me how many minutes to stir! Show me a picture of what it looks like! After weâve cooked the dish a few times, then the phrase âhearty consistencyâ might start to make sense. We build a sensory image of what that phrase represents. But the first time itâs as meaningless as 3 + 2 + 1 would be to a three-year-old.
This is how concreteness helps us understandâit helps us construct higher, more abstract insights on the building blocks of our existing knowledge and perceptions. Abstraction demands some concrete foundation. Trying to teach an abstract principle without concrete foundations is like trying to start a house by building a roof in the air.
More generally, when trying to make language either more concrete or more abstract, one helpful approach is to focus on either the how or the why.
Want to be more concrete? Focus on the how. How does a product meet consumer needs? How does a proposed new initiative address an important problem? Thinking about how something is or will be done encourages concreteness. It focuses on the feasibility and helps generate concrete descriptions.
Want to be more abstract? Focus on the why. Why does a product meet consumer needs? Why does a proposed new initiative address an important problem? Thinking about why something is good or right encourages abstractness. It focuses on its desirability and helps generate abstract descriptions.