This week, I to talk about the importance of clarity in you day to day. I believe that a lack of clarity is the most reliable way to fail. 

Most of the time we are quick to blame leadership for a lack of clarity, but there are things we can do to cultivate clarity regardless of our place in the organization. Over the next few episodes, I’ll be going through different tools that I have found to be incredibly helpful for adding clarity within my area of influence, and they’ve even helped add clarity outside my ministry. 

In this episode however, I want to unpack some of the specific reasons clarity is even important in the first place.

Why is clarity so important?

1. It tells you where to go

• Progress doesn’t happen on accident

2. It tells you where not to go

• Every destination isn’t the right one.
• Often our temptation is to do good things. In reality, though, we can’t do all the good things well. Focus on the few good things – usually connected to the mission of the organization – and say no to everything else. 

3. It helps you identify wins

• What should we repeat?
• If we haven’t identified what a win is, we won’t know.

4. It helps you identify who needs to grow

• If clarity doesn’t exist in your organization, it won’t be clear how people on your team need to grow.

Ok, great. So clarity is important. But how do we get there when you don’t run the show? I’m glad you asked.

1. Focus on adding clarity in your area first.

• Are you giving leadership status updates on your projects?
• If someone wants to work with your team, is it clear how they can do that?
• Are there areas within your team that aren’t clear? Make them clear!

2. Invite others into clarity

• When people participate in work with you, model what clarity looks like for them. Don’t expect them to be clear, or even to acknowledge the clarity that you are bringing. Instead, let your projects be more successful.

3. Protect the clarity you do have.

• Remember that this is a long term approach. You will not change the organization over night. That’s ok. You aren’t trying to change everything–you are trying to make your specific area better through clarity.

Now, I want to make it clear that while you can help improve the clarity that happens in your area, if clarity isn’t a cultural value, you might not be able to make significant change that sticks outside of your area. Usually when a culture doesn’t value clarity, it is because it values something else more.

• Sometimes it’s the “family nature” of the staff
• Sometimes personal preference is more important than clarity
• Sometimes there is an unwillingness to enforce a uniform approach to planning

Rarely, however, is it an active rejection of clarity. I like to think of it this way. Let’s say someone painted a wall blue. But you think the wall should be yellow. If you say to the painter “we need more yellow”, they’ll be a bit confused. Sure, yellow is nice, but we painted the wall blue. It was a matter of saying yes to blue more than it was a matter of saying no to yellow.

Clarity is often a casualty of another value.

But now what? How do I get there from here? That’s what the next several episodes are going to be about. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to feature a tool that you can implement in your job - regardless of your role. We’ll look at the purpose of each tool, how to apply it in your context, and what next steps it will help you take. Even if you are the only one in your organization to use these tools, they will help you bring clarity to your organization.