Soft Side of IT

I saw this web surfing Cookie Monster comic strip from a Gizmodo post a while back and I still giggle every time I see it. I kept imagining cookie monster thinking: “What do you mean delete cookies? “

Another classic example is the any key from 20 years ago:
“Press ANY Key” … “Where is the ANY key?“.

So many times, when we communicate what is clear to us, can be confusing to others.

That’s not what I meant
One of clearest realization of this was when a friend of mine was contemplating on a choice. As a guy who was studying computer science, I talked about trees as in decision trees. When she listened, she imagined walking towards 2 trees in a split path & picking which to go towards.

And I clicked, realizing she has no idea what I was talking, but listened as much as she could understand.

Take away
Next time, when you want to explain anything, take a conservative assumption on what you think they know & start from there.

Make sure you are communicating to their understanding, not just yours.