What really makes something actually useful?
I keep in mind the "Monday morning principle": come Monday morning, will this thing actually be able to be used?
This is important for tangible things. It’s even more important for intangible things — such as when training, speaking, lecturing, or giving advice.
Three ways to make things deliver on the Monday morning principle:
1. Make it specific
I learned this as a Church Minister. It’s one thing to say “You should love people”, but it’s another to say “Love means when someone is rude, don’t respond rudely. Respond politely and kindly. After all, a gentle answer turns away wrath.”
The formula to make something specific is to make it contextual: “When X [context], then Y [action].”
This works for ideas and tools alike: when you get an email from a customer, use this template. When you have a screw that looks like a star, use the Torx kit.
2. Make it memorable
People are more likely to do what they remember. So rather than saying “Don’t forget to tackle the hardest thing at the start of the day”, you might say “Eat That Frog!”
It doesn’t always have to be novel. You can use rhyme, alliteration, analogy, puns, quotes, and all that other good stuff. Sometimes memorable is just making it say exactly what it is — like FaceTime.
3. Make it tiny
If you want people to apply something on Monday morning, make it tiny. I like to use the test: “Can you print this onto a post-it note and stick it on your monitor?”
This applies to ideas and tools. Make the action small: a single hyperlink to click, a single button to press.
Got a team SharePoint site? Give everyone the direct link, rather than expecting them to wade through folders to get there.
Or, if your thing is a key statistic, make it short and simple: “8 out of 10 cats agree” — not “out of the feline population, when surveyed, 8/10s, or 80%, made statements in agreement with the sentiment that…”