How to Disagree Diplomatically

Plus, the Curse of Knowledge

In partnership with

In today’s newsletter:

  1. 📖 Avoid the "Curse of Knowledge" in Leadership Communication

  2. 💬 A Quick Hack to Be Less Confrontational When Disagreeing

  3. 🏫 Newsletter about AI: The Rundown

  4. 🧠 One Tip to Appear Smarter in Meetings

  5. ✍️ An 80/20 Tip You Can Apply Today

Read time: 4.5 minutes

THE ONE THING

1. Avoid the "Curse of Knowledge" in Leadership Communication

Enemy number 1 in communication is called the "Curse of Knowledge.”

This is a cognitive bias where you assume everyone knows what you do.

For example, when a CFO in a meeting says: "Our EBITDA margin remains robust, and our capex dip is within acceptable limits," they assume that everyone listening in is fluent in financial terms and understand what they’re talking about.

The best anecdote to explain the Curse of Knowledge is called the “Tappers & Listeners” study (more in this HBR article).

It's a tricky problem to solve, and its effects are worse in virtual teams due to a lack of face-to-face interaction.

One simple fix is to use clear, straightforward language. Avoid fancy jargon and avoid any assumptions about your audience.

“Explain it like everyone is 15 years old” is a helpful reframe that will trick you into simplifying your messages.

INSIGHTFUL THOUGHTS

2. A Quick Hack to Be Less Confrontational When Disagreeing

Diplomacy is an essential trait in business.

For example, saying “I disagree” could sometimes come off as confrontational.

Instead try phrases such as:

  • “I see this differently.”

  • “Here are my concerns.”

  • “Have we considered the following repercussions?”

Those could help with delivering the same message, but in a more diplomatic way.

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3. Newsletter about AI: The Rundown

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Rundown, a newsletter that covers daily updates about AI tools and workflows. More details below.

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FUNNY MEMES

4. One Tip to Appear Smarter in Meetings

This is from Sarah Cooper’s book: 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings.

THE 80/20

5. An 80/20 Tip You Can Apply Today

Here’s a low-effort, high-impact tip you can use with your team today:

  • What: Write emails that are five sentences or fewer

  • Why: TLDR stands for “Too Long, Didn’t Read,” so you’ll be doing everyone a favor by being concise. Plus shorter emails are read more often and are responded to more frequently. So shorter emails are a win-win.

  • Exception: If you need to write a longer email, break it down into two sections: Quick Summary & Details. And keep the summary section at 5 sentences or fewer.

Want more of those tips?

Check out my free Amazon Bestselling book called: Influencing Virtual Teams.

You can grab it for free by clicking the button and subscribing to the newsletter 👇️