Making Numbers Count

This month, we highlight the value of tactical communications in the planning process around goals, metrics and desired results. With the focus on knowledge-based decision-making, we also highlight a book that has helped us become more comfortable with communicating numbers as leaders. In, “Making Numbers Count”, Chip Heath and Karla Starr outline a process that helps leaders not only understand the numbers, but more importantly communicate the numbers in a way that resonates with the audience both logically and emotionally!

Our favorite section of the book is titled “Use Emotional Numbers ~ Surprising and Meaningful ~ To Move People to Think and Act Differently”. It is a powerful set of ideas in short and easy-to- understand chapters that help the reader quickly understand the authors’ idea. The authors use plenty of examples that also aid in the reader grasping the main idea in a way that also makes it easy to apply to their business. For instance, in the chapter on comparatives, the authors suggest instead of saying “Their center is 7’8” tall”, use the phase, “Their center is 2 inches taller than Yao Ming”. These types of examples are peppered throughout the book to make it easy to understand and apply!

Enjoy the Book!