EYN#062: Could You Tell It's Happy Birthday From A Few Taps?

Elizabeth Newton, a Stanford professor, did an experiment in 1990.  She got 50 people to tap out the rhythm of Happy Birthday to a partner.  The partner had to guess what song it was.  How many people guessed the tune do you think? 

Not 75%

Not 50%

Only 3%. 

That can't be right, everyone knows the tune and it's obvious! 

But it's only obvious when you know.  She popularised the phrase Curse of Knowledge.  Something that hinders us in tech.  We know the answer so think it's obvious to other people as well.

Last week I had an awesome guest on the Tech World Human Skills podcast.  I had Ed Sant'Anna on and we talked about how to become more influential, more memorable and more successful.  We talked about how to become a tech translator.  A vital skill for you and your team that removes the curse of knowledge.

What is a tech translator?

Professionals everywhere, particularly in IT, regularly need to convey complex concepts to others, right? Sometimes to techies, sometimes to non-techies and sometimes to semi-techies. Your manager, your project manager, your customer stakeholder.  And it's challenging.

A tech translator is someone who can take the jargon, the nuts and bolts and turn it into something that's understandable and relevant to other roles.

Why be a tech translator?

Ultimately if you've got this skill you and your team become more successful. It helps you:

• Move projects forward.
• Convince customers to use your solution.
• Excel in job interviews
• Drive action.

All the things you need to do to be successful in your career.

How do you become a tech translator?

 Ed introduced a lovely little acronym.  T.E.C.H.

Train - Not just on the technical detail.  You absolutely need to know the tech.  This is about understanding the industry you're working in. Understanding the impact of what the tech does.  Understanding what the tech is enabling.

Explain - You've trained on the impact the tech will have.  Now you need to be able to explain it at a high level, medium level and low level.  Practice and give thought to how you'll explain it.

Convince - Everyone is in sales.  Everyone needs to be able to convince.  Convincing is different to explaining.  Ed went through some great ways to think about convincing people.

Highlight - The numbers.  Highlight the numbers.  Numbers speak, particularly to people with a logical and rational mindset.  Baseline today and show how tomorrow will be better.

I won't ruin the whole episode for you.  There's loads more stories and examples in the full episode so check it out wherever you get your podcasts or on our website.

Hope this helps

Ben