1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: On his enormously popular blog Wait But Why, Tim Urban 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: writes about some pretty heavy topics. He's covered North Korea, 3 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: the state of American politics and culture, and Elon Musk's 4 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: rise to fame, to name just a few. So you 5 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: might be surprised when you click onto the blog for 6 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: the first time and see it's overrun with stick figure drawings, 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: whether it's a graft demonstrating just how few weeks make 8 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: up a human life, or characters representing our inner demons. 9 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 1: Tim is constantly seeking novel ways to get his point across. 10 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: So how does Tim decide when to illustrate versus when 11 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: to let his words do the talking? And what are 12 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: the most common cases where words alone don't quite cut it. 13 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,959 Speaker 1: My name is doctor Amantha Imber. I'm an organizational psychologist 14 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium, and this is 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: how I work a show about how to help you 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: do your best work. On today's My Favorite Tip episode, 17 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: we go back to an interview from the past and 18 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: I pick out my favorite tip from the interview. In 19 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 1: today's show, I speak with Tim about how he knows 20 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: when something he's trying to communicate really needs a picture. 21 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 2: There is there's certain times for both. Right, there's obviously 22 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 2: writing needs to take the meat of the stuff for 23 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 2: me at least, and there's something that writing can do 24 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 2: that visuals can't, right, Like writing you can there's just 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 2: a you know, a language has has a lot of 26 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 2: ability to get certain things across that that that you 27 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 2: can't do in a visual. But if there's certain times 28 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 2: when like nothing is like a good visual. Like so, 29 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 2: for example, with this how much time you have in life? 30 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 2: I could describe it. I could say, here the number 31 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 2: of weeks you have. Here are the number of months 32 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 2: you have. But big numbers were not very you know, 33 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 2: in writing, big numbers don't really have as much impact 34 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 2: if you can, you know, so like I can say 35 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 2: you have forty five hundred weeks in the life. Okay, 36 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 2: that kind of sounds like an endless number and not endless, 37 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 2: but that's a forty five hundred okay whatever, you know, 38 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: if it doesn't sound that different than if I said 39 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 2: forty five thousand, it's just kind of like some big number, right, 40 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 2: But if I suddenly illustrate it and boom, you're looking 41 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 2: at them all there they are, that's it. And especially 42 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 2: I'll test it out. Sometimes I I would do something 43 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 2: like that and look and say, that looks like that 44 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 2: looks like what the number sounds like. So what's the 45 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 2: point of putting the visual in there. The wording is 46 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 2: going to get the same is going to have the 47 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 2: same effect. But when I've made that particular one, I 48 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 2: looked at it and I said, wow, that is so 49 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 2: much smaller than the number sounds. So that's a perfect 50 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 2: time to do it, right. So I think sometimes there 51 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 2: can be something that's funny, a like a comic can 52 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,800 Speaker 2: can bennier than wording a lot of the time. Sometimes 53 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:05,519 Speaker 2: it can be more sticky and more memorable. So like 54 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 2: I can talk about the instant gratification monkey and the 55 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 2: panic monster and the rational decision maker all I want, right, 56 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 2: But if. 57 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: It's just these long words, these terms. 58 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 2: Versus a visual boom, it can stick, Okay. So a 59 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 2: visual can help it be can help something comes through 60 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 2: that that it's not going through writing. It can help 61 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 2: make things clearer, and it can help it be more memorable. 62 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 2: So for me, I'm always there's no formula as I'm writing. 63 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 2: I'm always thinking about you know, I don't want to 64 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 2: do a visual just for the sake of doing it. 65 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 2: Would would a visual help here? What a visual will 66 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 2: help a lot here? Would it make things better? Can 67 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 2: this whole paragraph, this whole section just be is one 68 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 2: good visual can be better? I've also made mistakes before. 69 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 2: I've done a visual that is kind of convoluted or 70 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 2: doesn't accomplish that much. And I often and I will 71 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 2: later come back and just look at it and think, 72 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 2: like this didn't pop, Like actually I would have just 73 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 2: described this concept. I tried to get too cute here 74 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 2: with like a visual that has like four dimensions and 75 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 2: like has all this stuff, and I'm looking and I'm like, 76 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 2: this just didn't work. And so as I'm always trying 77 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 2: to get better. 78 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: At that, and like, you know, if you enjoyed this 79 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: excerpt of my chat with Tim, you might want to 80 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: go and listen to the whole interview, which you can 81 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: find a link to in the show notes. If you're 82 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: looking for more tips to improve the way that you work, 83 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: I write a short fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool 84 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,919 Speaker 1: things that I've discovered that helped me work better, ranging 85 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 1: from software and gadgets that I'm loving three to interesting 86 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: research findings. You can sign up for that at Howiwork 87 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: dot Co. That's how I Work dot Co. Thank you 88 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: for sharing part of your day with me by listening 89 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: to How I Work. If you're keen for more tips 90 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: on how to work better, connect with me via LinkedIn 91 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: or Instagram. I'm very easy to find. Just search for 92 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: Amantha Imba. How I Work was recorded on the traditional 93 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: land of the Warrangery people, part of the Cooler Nation. 94 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: I'm so grateful for being able to work and live 95 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: on this beautiful land, and I want to pay my 96 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: respects to elders, past, present and emerging. How I Work 97 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: is produced by inventing with production support from Dead Set Studios, 98 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: and thank you to Martin Nimba who did the audio 99 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: mix and makes everything sound better than it would have otherwise.