I have always thought that if you cannot explain something to someone else – it means that you don’t really understand it. I remember listening to Stephen Hawking explain black holes in a way that allowed me to grasp the basic premise of the concept. It is, I think, important to be able to distill complex ideas in such a way as to retain the core elements. This allows others to begin their own exploration of the topic.

Please note that I do not attempt to explain black holes to others. I know that my simple mind does not begin to comprehend the enormity of the phenomena. I know only enough to allow me to watch shows on Nova (or episodes of Star Trek) without complete bewilderment.

I think we should try to make the complex comprehensible. The danger is not in the distillation. It is not in the instruction of ideas in their simplest form. The danger is when the listener thinks that is all there is. The problems arise when the box of Betty Crocker mix is mistaken for the cake. Or perhaps worse, believing that is all there is to making a cake.

Conversely, we also err by taking simple concepts and making them complex. I teach accounting and tax and management. Included are some straight forward ideas, some black and white processes. But some folk are suspicious of anything that is too comprehensible. If it is easy to understand then anyone can get it. If anyone can get it then I do not have a personal advantage – or so the thinking goes.

It seems that people who write text books often suffer from this belief. They can take a nice, easy idea and bend it, shake it and confound it with big words and complicated sentence structure. Maybe they want to impress on young minds that nothing is simple, but I suspect more likely they want to appear brilliant. And I have met some brilliant people who are afraid they will lose their luster if they say anything comprehensible.

But how can we teach if everything is too difficult to understand? How can we succeed if we feel that everything we know is false by the logic that if you understand it then it can’t be right?

Why do we feel compelled to elevate basic ideas to incomprehensible philosophies? Why do we value the obscure over the tangible?

I want to tie this conversation to personal success. (Finally!)
Three simple rules:

• Know what you know
• Know your limitations – the depth and breadth of your understanding
• Know there is always more to know

Don’t be ashamed or your lack of knowledge. After all, you don’t need to know everything about a car in order to drive it. But pretending you do can lead to trouble.

Don’t be emboldened by your knowledge. Few things are simple. I know with absolute certainty that gravity causes things to fall. That absolute certainty does not make me an expert on gravity.

Stay curious. There will be things that you know “enough” about. But follow your interests. Question your beliefs. When you think the answer is simple, and when it is important, find out more.

The mind is an amazing thing. This is another area in which I cannot claim expertise. But I know that people are wired to recognize patterns and to filter and compartmentalize information.

I tried guacamole once and I didn’t like it. I determined from this very limited experiment that I don’t like guacamole. This simple conclusion does no harm and ensures that I never risk eating guacamole again. But too many of these simple conclusions can create a very narrow life experience.

Be brave. Taste the green stuff again.