Clarity is a fundamental element of great strategy, organisations and relationships. At its core, clarity is simply the state or quality of being clear, coherent, intelligible and free from ambiguity. It exists in multiple forms – as a quality of something (e.g. clarity in the way we communicate), and/or an outcome (e.g. achieving clarity on an important issue).
In our article on the power of clarity, we outline why clarity is one of the most powerful outcomes that can be achieved by an individual, organisation or community. To put this theory into action, we’ve collected our favourite tips and ideas for you to create clarity for yourself, your organisation and with others.
For organisations
- Tackle the six critical questions that Patrick Lencioni (as outlined in The Advantage) says must be answered to achieve clarity in any organisation: Why do we exist? How will we succeed? What do we do? What’s most important, right now? Who does what? How do we behave?
We’ve put together a free downloadable Team Alignment Canvas and a Strategic Planning Toolkit, which provide a step by step approach for you to capture and clearly communicate your organisation’s or team’s answers to each of the six questions. - Objectives and key results (or OKRs, as they’re commonly referred to) provide a simple, though powerful, framework for organisational prioritisation and goal-setting.
- In the face of uncertainty about the future, scenario planning can be useful to develop strategies that are both robust and flexible.
For ourselves
- Knowing what you want to do and achieve in your own life and career is an important type of clarity. The process outlined in this TED Talk is a great starting point.
- Objectives and key results can also be used as a powerful framework for individual goal-setting.
- Support your goal-setting with James Clear’s identity based habits, which make for sustained, compound growth on the things that you want to get better at.
- To create clarity on the people, activities or commitments in your life that generate your peak positive or negative outcomes, try Tim Ferris’s past year review.
For communications with others
- As part of any important communication (be it verbal or written), create clarity by first outlining the important context and purpose before launching into any discussion.
- In written communications, clarity takes the form of writing which is coherent, purposeful and easy for the recipient to grasp. Our friends at Wavelength use a simple technique to increase the clarity of writing – send your writing to a colleague, and ask them: does this represent practical advice, presented clearly, in language that a non-expert will understand?
- For important conversations, especially those where the stakes are high, we have found great value in the principles outlined in Crucial Conversations to be clear on your intentions and communicate with clarity.
Give these ideas a try
Creating clarity is impactful, and well within reach for every individual, organisation and community. We’d love for you to give some of these ideas a try, let us know how you go!
Where to go next?
- Read our article on the power of clarity
- Download our free Team Alignment Canvas – a simple tool for organisations and teams to capture and communicate strategic clarity
- Check out our Strategic Planning Toolkit, which provides a practical step by step process for creating clarity within your organisation or team
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Team Alignment Canvas
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Most popular. A simple tool for organisations and teams to create strategic clarity.
Use it to capture your answers to Lencioni’s six critical questions, and share it with your team.
