“Complicated times increase our hunger for simple answers.” — John Lanchester
In times of stress or anxiety, people want plain explanations and, ideally, clear answers about what will happen next. They don’t want to get lost in the details or backstory — they want concise information. Too often, the communicator wants to clarify nuances or finer points and forgets about the receiver’s perspective. People presenting bad news can fall into the over-explaining trap and drone on about details to justify a decision, or when silence becomes uncomfortable.
The true expert is the one who can help people grasp a concept in plain language. The more complicated the subject, the more powerful a simple analogy becomes.
Source: “The Number” in Who is Government, edited by Michael Lewis, 2025.
