Clarity Starts With Reality

At Double Forte, “We Seek Radical Clarity” is one of three aspirational values that guides our work, our decisions, and our relationships.

Radical clarity leaves nothing on the table in a situation. We prioritize first understanding the situation we are (or our client is) in, then we articulate the position we want to be in, and then we chart the unambiguous path between point A and point B. (That path always looks nice and straight on paper but is usually a squiggle once moved from paper to action!)

Reality plays a foundational role.

What is real? What do we know? Where are we, actually? (As opposed to where we wish we were or where we were supposed to be at a certain point in time.) I quote my first executive coach, Barbara Fagan, often: “Rocks are hard, water is wet.” This helps us stop wishing and start acknowledging where we are.

When problem solving or starting a journey to achieve a goal, being real about where you are is the first piece of driving clarity. Without it, creating an unambiguous plan is impossible because it won’t account for reality, and your team will be sidelined time and time again trying to fabricate what they wish for instead of driving forward with as much energy as possible. Work is hard enough without having to live in parallel, alternate universes.

Beginning where you are is the starting point. Everyone understanding where you are is paramount to high producing and efficient teamwork.

As Cy Wakeman said in her book Reality Based Leadership, “If you argue with reality, you lose.”

In my career, I’ve been in countless meetings where precious time was wasted wishing for a different reality instead of facing it. I may have used my voice and some gesticulation to stop the discussion and get the group focused on facing reality. Maybe. (And maybe I thought I’d lose my job a few times because of that...so far, so good.)

“We can either keep wishing it was different or we can figure out what to do not to lose—you can’t do both.” (This may or may not be paraphrased with colorful language redacted. Maybe.)

1 Thing You Can Do To Help People Face Reality

Get everyone focused on answering these questions:

1. What do we know?
2. What are the facts?
3. What are the time constraints we are in?
4. What can we do right now?

With these questions answered, the decision-maker can make the decision in the context of what is real right now and lay out a course of action clearly so that everyone knows what to do. Without that clarity, the team flounders and loses ground.

Clarity mitigates drama and propels forward motion.

Don’t rush this process, AND don't let it drag on. If everyone is on the same page at the beginning of a project, a quarter, or a plan, the work will be much, much easier. Not maybe. Really much, much easier.

1 GREAT Resource I Recommend

I've just re-read Atomic Habits by James Clear, who offers an easy-to-understand framework on how to improve every day with tiny changes that compound for remarkable results. Last year, I spent good energy identifying and restacking my habits to improve my life in many different ways. His point: if we improve just 1% every day with these tiny changes, we improve 37% in a year (so good to great, or mediocre to really good), if we decline 1% every day, no matter where we start we drop to just above zero. I can’t recommend this to you enough.