Strip It Down
Simple language is a competitive advantage. Here's how to get there.
It turns out “leverage our synergistic ecosystem” doesn’t actually mean anything. Who knew?
This week we’re diving deep into the power of simple, clear language. From Rick Rubin’s advice on stripping things to their essence, to why the smartest presidents spoke at an eighth-grade level, to how poor communication is costing U.S. businesses $62 billion a year. Oh, and we’ll take a quick detour into the origin story of the most spoken word on earth. Spoiler: it started as a joke.
Cheers,
Kevin
FEATURED MUSING
Strip It Down
I came across this line from Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act recently and couldn’t stop thinking about it:
“Distilling a work to get it as close to its essence as possible is a useful and informative practice. Notice how many pieces you can remove before the work you’re making ceases to be the work you’re making.”
He’s talking about music. But swap “work” for “strategy” and it applies just as well.
All too often, strategies are filled with complicated business jargon that doesn’t translate well to the general population of a business. I don’t think people do that just to sound smart. I think they actually believe they’re being more precise. Words like “leverage,” “ecosystem,” “holistic,” and “stakeholder value” feel specific to the person who wrote them. The problem is the curse of knowledge—once you know what you mean, it’s almost impossible to hear how it sounds to everyone else.
I have been plenty guilty of this in the past. I genuinely believed I was adding clarity, but I was really just confusing people.
WeWork’s 2019 IPO prospectus is an extreme example. They described themselves as offering “flexible access to beautiful spaces, a culture of inclusivity and the energy of an inspired community, all connected by our extensive technology infrastructure.”
They were renting office space.
I think AI is actually a good tool for helping with simplifying language and ensuring clarity. You can take your current strategy statement, drop it into an AI tool, and work through three prompts.
First: Rewrite this at eighth-grade readability. Keep the meaning. Cut the jargon. I ran WeWork’s line through that and got this back:
“We give members access to flexible workspaces where they can connect with a welcoming community, supported by technology that makes it easy to work anywhere.”
Better. But then the second prompt: Where is this still vague or unclear? It came back with this: “Flexible workspaces” doesn’t say what kind of flexibility—hours, locations, desk types? “Welcoming community” doesn’t explain who these people are or what connecting with them actually looks like. “Technology that makes it easy to work anywhere” doesn’t say what the technology does or why it matters.
So I took another pass to address those gaps: “We rent office space by the day, month, or year—no long-term lease required. Our locations are designed so members naturally cross paths, share ideas, and build relationships. Everything you need to get to work is already set up when you walk in.”
Clearer. But Rubin’s point isn’t just about clarity—it’s about essence. So the third prompt: Strip this to its absolute essence. Remove everything that isn’t necessary.
“We rent ready-to-use office space by the day, month, or year to people who want to work alongside a built-in community.”
One sentence. Memorable, understandable, and meaningful. Everyone in the company knows exactly what they’re there to do.
COMMUNICATION
Why the Smartest Leaders Use the Simplest Words
I’m a big fan of Rob Willis’ TikToks on how to structure communication. This one breaks down some fascinating research on State of the Union addresses going back to the 1930s. Presidents who used simpler language were consistently more persuasive. JFK spoke at a 13.2-grade level. Eisenhower at 12.8. Obama—a Harvard law professor—scored the lowest at 8.4. When the stakes are high, the instinct is often to reach for bigger, more sophisticated words. That instinct works against you. The complexity of your idea doesn’t require complex language to explain it. Simpler language just makes it easier for people to absorb what you’re saying.
LEADERSHIP
Poor Communication Is Costing U.S. Businesses $62 Billion a Year
Poor communication costs U.S. businesses an estimated $62 billion annually, according to this article from High-Stakes Conversations, and it ties directly into this week’s theme. A big part of that comes down to leaders assuming their message landed the way they intended. The higher you sit in an organization, the more your words get filtered and reinterpreted on the way down. Simpler, clearer language reduces that risk considerably. If people can’t repeat back what you said in their own words, you haven’t communicated yet.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.”
— Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
INTERESTING
Two Letters. One Joke. 185 Years of World Domination.
This TikTok tells the story of how “OK” became the most spoken word on earth. It started as a joke in an 1839 Boston newspaper—a deliberate misspelling of “all correct” during a trend where editors thought it was funny to abbreviate everything. Nobody expected it to stick. Then a presidential candidate nicknamed “Old Kinderhook” adopted it as a campaign slogan, telegraph operators latched onto it as the perfect confirmation signal, and every communication technology since has kept it alive. Today it’s used by people who speak no English at all. Japanese, Arabic, Swahili—it fits seamlessly into almost every language on the planet. Sometimes the simplest things travel the farthest.
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Wow, just learning about the history of the word “OK.” It's ok😄.
Thank you for including us in your article.