#87: Why clear thinking matters
And what it feels like to live in a world with a shortage of it
Exceptional communication skills are a force multiplier to all types of success. I’ve seen this in action, many times in my career. It is also not a coincidence that the most successful people I’ve ever met, by far, are also the most gifted in storytelling.
Knowing how to skillfully express a desire, an idea or even a random thought in a way that could capture the right1 type of attention is rare. There is a reason why every time we encounter one, or at least what feels like one, it often lingers in our minds for days, or weeks, or even years to come. This is the blessing and the curse of a real good story. It does not discriminate the emotions it unexpectedly produces; it stays with you, the good, the bad and most especially the terrifying kind. We are drowning in the latter at the moment, but let’s not get into that.
I’m a lifelong admirer of creativity in storytelling—in all forms possible. However, I’ve come to realize that it is not enough. Creativity is not enough. We also need clarity, in fact, we’re in dire need of it. These days, in this political and social climate, it’s increasingly harder and harder to achieve clear thinking and that is a big problem, not just for us individually, for society as a whole. This is beyond the conversation of a career lifecycle. Think bigger.
Creative thinking is responsible for the most generation-defining innovations we’ve come to witness in modern times, there is no doubt about this. Sanity, real & “not-just-for-the-optics” ethics and long-term peace, however, cannot be possible without the former. In terms of communications and storytelling and everything that makes us good and proper and admirable humans, those three attributes are everything.
My fundamental belief on this subject is this and will always be this: Thinking clearly is the prerequisite to writing and talking well, with an acceptable amount of eloquence. You simply can’t write nor speak well without thinking well, and vice versa. It is much easier to do all of those minus the thinking. Precisely how and why we have the current state of social media (or the world for the matter). There’s an abundance of all forms of communications-everywhere-sans the brains behind them. Not only is that terrifying, it is also downright dangerous, and utterly boring - a society that runs on superficiality is boring. With the onset of AI, this can only magnify if we are not careful as both consumers and creators in this digital landscape.
In a way, it almost makes running a substack an act of rebellion. I certainly feel like a rebel just by doing this - writing long-form essays with zero virality in mind. More importantly, publishing those without any ounce of urgency nor self-importance. I don’t believe my writing is at that level of “this has to exist in this world” just yet but that is what I am working towards. Would I ever get there? Who knows. It doesn’t make this process any less fun. I love writing, especially when it matters. When I know I’m unto something. When I’m aware it could lead to something. This is one of those instances. For my readers who’ve stuck by me since day one, thank you. It is not easy to willingly give a fraction of your attention to an untested writer. The fact that you are still here, it means a lot to me more than you think.
As designers, we’ve always been taught (from academia and beyond) with the principles of form and function in mind. There’s a reason for why things are the way they are and part of our job is to know that, to dig through that, and really understand things. Behind every design decision is a hypothesis: we think X is an existing problem for user Y so we’re proposing solution Z because <insert reasoning>. When we are faced with a problem that is completely outside of our playing fields, it can get extremely anxiety-inducing. If we’re not careful, it can even be demoralizing, in some capacity. Of course, there is always room for challenge, and “growth”, whatever this means for you.
As I reflect about the current state of, well, everything, it’s quite hard to see that growth in a way that is productive. All I can see is the opposite. All I can see is the chaos. Social media and just the overall network effects of technology is a huge factor to that. In fact, tech’s impact is so incredibly big in all of this, it may just as well be the only factor that’s worth considering.
Creative thinking got us here and will very well take us into the future; Clear thinking and really masterful storytelling—one that puts ethics and empathy and humanity and the planet at the front-row-and-center—will make sure there’s a desirable future waiting for us to begin with.
And that, I think, in my very limited capacity as an ordinary civilian, is what’s missing in today’s media landscape. Or even, judging strictly from the last election, in today’s households.
In my mind, that is scary. Nothing about all of this….isn’t.
Thank you for reading, I’m aware this post is a bit unusual for me.
Nikki
The people the message is meant for gets it in a way that is compelling