Improve Understanding by Releasing the Model Theory

How often do you hear someone describe a new theory to you in a few sentences, after which they say "its a simple as that". Yet you dont really understand it at all. You kind of get how it might work, but you dont really understand how the theory works. Its tough to explain, so heres an example.

"Communication can make or break a business"

Great theory.

But this alone is not enough to describe what it really means. It could be interpreted in any number of different ways. For example, it could be interpreted that as a manager, one should communicate to your staff and not listen to them; however, it could also be interpreted as communicate to your staff by listening to them. Here arises the problem with the model theory.

I believe when people conclude with a theory and say "it's as simple as that", what they are really saying is "you can in some way rationalise all my observations so that they line up with my original statement".

A statement like "it's as simple as that" or "its just common sense" is never enough to really explain a theory. I've heard tonnes of effective business leaders tell me "its just common sense", but it really is not just that.

There is no one title or sentence that can describe a whole theory.

It's really important to bear this in mind when someone tells you "its as simple as that" or "communication is key" that they have only told you how they rationalise all their little theories and real world experiences.

So how do we overcome this problem and copy successful people who think it's all common sense?

Immersion.

We will never know exactly how they do what they do, but by immersing ourselves in someone else's practise we can slowly better emulate their results.

This is why a short 50 page book on something like time management may seem very effective, however, if you're really looking to improve time management your results would probably be much better if you read a 500 page book written by the same person elaborating on their theories, or even better read ten 50 page books by different people producing your ideal results.

So what you can take away from this?

-Rationalising your discoveries to one model/statement does not make improve understanding or make it any "simpler"
-Immerse yourself in the practise of those producing the results you want
-Make your own subconscious theories from real-world experience.