There’s an adage in motor racing: “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”. The idea is that the fastest lap may feel like the slowest because you’ve paid more attention to executing the fundamentals.
And one of those fundamentals is context. When we speed past context at the start of a conversation we make our conversations harder and slower.
Context sets the scene. It’s the information at the start that paints the backdrop so that a message can be properly understood. It answers questions like “What’s this conversation about?” and “Why is it relevant to me?”
While it may feel like we’re slowing down the message to add more context, it makes for a smoother and faster conversation overall. It’s an investment that pays off.
Harvard’s Deepak Malhotra provides a helpful angle on this in his book Negotiating the Impossible:
"Don’t just prepare your arguments, prepare your audience for your arguments."
Yes, providing context takes a little more time, but if we don’t want the other person to fumble our message, we will help them catch it ⚾️
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