Short and Sweet

June 13, 2024

I've been attending lots of talks, lately... talks I've given, talks others have given. I try to learn from everything I see and hear and do. The chief lesson from the last couple of weeks: Shorter is better.

Each week, my task for this column is to say something meaningful in about 400 words. Because everyone is graduating from something at this time of year, commencement is a perfect topic for a pithy essay. I have all kinds of things to say to someone who is closing one chapter and starting a new one, so you can imagine how tempting it is to launch in and do that here. But in recognition of how we all want speeches to be shorter even if they are full of profound and useful advice, this week I'm giving you the two-sentence condensed version of the talks I've heard, especially at graduation ceremonies. As it happens, it's also the main principle I'm trying to convey to my kids:

Create more value in the world than you are sucking out of it. This applies to life in general, and also to the next 5 minutes.

You know how to fill in the rest.

—Deb