nobody pays attention

“Do you remember that document I sent you and briefed you about?” … “No, I didn’t think so.”

It seems that few people have time to pay attention to anything that cannot be put into a known holding bin in their mind. If it’s new, complicated, or complex, there is no time to make sense of it in our hurried professional lives. In a world of general attention deficit disorder, understanding that nobody has understood what you have produced is a critical foundation for communication, especially in business. Assume that nobody has read what you have written. For those rare exceptions, assume they have interpreted it in a manner other than intended. So what can you do?

First of all, you need clarity of mind. Anything you believe is important to communicate has to be revised, tested, and edited many times. On this blog I have taken many half-baked ideas and worked at simplifying convoluted concepts over several years. But readers will take one point and run with it, taking it where they wish. I am not in control. They are. All I can hope is to engage them. Over time I may even be able to convince them of a new idea.

If you need to convince others to hire you, engage you, buy your product, or anything else, then your quiver needs many arrows. Even if one hits the target, it does not mean it will stick. These people are not those who have read your blogs posts, articles, or books. But they have probably put you into a category already. Your job is make it clear why your point of view is important to them. It’s best to assume everyone has a lack of time and a different frame of reference. It won’t make you more successful, but perhaps less frustrated. You should over-prepare, practice all the time, and pay attention to signals. It is not about you.

I’m working on being less frustrated ;)