Upshots: Communicating Ideas Through Briefing with J.B. Skelton

Ever had a spark of inspiration that fizzled out when you shared it? Or a great idea that was misrepresented when you weren't there? Let's face it, sometimes getting your ideas across is harder than coming up with them in the first place. In this Upshots episode, Micah is joined by fellow Unserious co-founder and host J.B. Skelton to learn how the briefing process can not only organize your thoughts but captivate leadership and drive decision-making. This simple tool can be your secret weapon for bringing big ideas to life and making sure they stick the landing.

"Most of the time that a decision gets made, you're not able to be in the room. So a solid brief really helps us focus our story and tell it story for us. It brings stakeholders along and wins sponsorship for promising ideas." - J.B. Skelton

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Follow J.B. on LinkedIn and @jbskelton on Instagram.

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Episode Transcript

Micah (00:18):
This is Unserious approach that you can start
using right away.
Our guest today should be afamiliar voice, my fellow co
founder, jb Skelton, who hoststhe long form unserious episodes
on Thursdays with Molly McMahon, on top of being a creative
leader with deep experience inbringing big ideas to life,
happy Monday, jb.
What are we exploring today?

J.B. (00:38):
We are exploring, communicating ideas through
briefs.

Micah (00:44):
Anyone who has worked with you knows that you're not
talking about underwear here.
Briefs are an important tool inyour program management arsenal
.

J.B. (00:53):
This is for anybody who has ideas that want to see them
come to life.
My favorite way to use a briefis when I have a kernel of an
idea, and the brief helps metighten my own thinking.
If I can brief out an idea,there's a good chance my idea
has some legs in the real world.
I also use it whenever I haveto organize information for

(01:17):
leadership teams so that theycan make key decisions.
I use a brief to frame up arecommendation, okay.

Micah (01:24):
So it's sort of like getting your own shit together
before you share it with others.
Yeah, yeah, I mean I've noticedthat like some people will
share like a half-baked idea outloud in the spirit of
co-creation and getting feedbackfrom others, but I can see that
backfire because it doesn'tlook very thought through.
Have you noticed that too?

J.B. (01:40):
Yeah, yeah.
Of course, we have limitedopportunities and time to.
Most of the time that adecision gets made, you're not
able to be in the room.
So a solid brief really helpsus focus our story and it can
tell our story for us.
It brings stakeholders alongand it wins sponsorship for

(02:03):
promising ideas.

Micah (02:04):
I could see how it also helps you keep the narrative
consistent, even when you're notthere to represent it.
Like you said, 100%, all right,well, let's dig in.
How does this work?

J.B. (02:18):
First, you start with some context and you start with a
problem statement.
What is the background issue?
If this idea fell out of acoconut tree, what is the
context in which this ideaexists?
Is there a key insight or thatsheds new light on solutions?
Keep it tight.

(02:38):
Try to limit yourself to just afew sentences.
Second, keep your eye onobjectives.
Articulate your objectives thatclearly align with the team's
objectives, the org's objectives, your company objectives.
If this is a marketing programthat's designed to boost
customer satisfaction, or is ita content strategy that's going

(03:00):
to enable app users to resolveproduct questions without
burdening call center staff,sure, make sure it has a real
worthy reason for being.
Third, start putting togetheran operating plan and some goals
Now.
You don't have to go into fulldetail here Save the gaunt
charts for another document butbriefly explain how this idea is

(03:24):
going to work and how theprogram is gonna come to life.
Who is responsible for what?
What are some key dates andmilestones?

Micah (03:32):
What are your KPIs and how are you going to track them,
kpis being key performanceindicators.
That's right.

J.B. (03:38):
And then last but not least, name some watchouts.
What are some potentialpitfalls and conflicts that
could derail the project?
Name those Keep your eye outfor those Okay.

Micah (03:50):
So we're starting with a background issue, that's right.
What is the core problem thatwe're going to solve?
Then we work through theobjectives like how will this
problem be resolved for peopleusers, employees, whoever it is
in the space and then, at a veryhigh level, explain how it'll
come to life.

(04:10):
I could see there being likeJanuary, we'll do this, march,
we do that, maybe.
Level yeah, that's right, okay.
And then some of themeasurements that we might show
to keep on track.
And then I love this last partof the potential pitfalls.
Could those be things like oh,the mood of the organization is
in this space or this IT team isreally constrict, constructed

(04:31):
with bandwidth, those kinds ofthings.

J.B. (04:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
Or here's a competinginitiative that is coming to
market at exactly the same time.
Got it, yeah?

Micah (04:47):
Well, speaking of pitfalls, what if we zoom out
and look at this process, thebriefing process?
What are some potential areaswhere this could go off track?

J.B. (04:56):
Well, a good brief is actually designed to help you
avoid pitfalls.
So the first thing is like, ifthe idea is logic starts falling
apart as you are writing it out, don't force it.
Let it fall apart.
That's what a brief is supposedto do.
It's doing its job.
But two other things come tomind here.
Let it fall apart.
That's what a brief is supposedto do.
It's doing its job.
But two other things come tomind here.

(05:18):
One, thinking that you reallyhave to be very much of a writer
to put a brief together.
Bullets work fine.
Don't let that stop you.
The second thing is going intotoo much detail.
Really, try to limit yourselfto two pages as a forcing
function.
The entire idea here is to havesomething kind of like the
underpants short.

Micah (05:38):
It all comes back.
Yeah yeah, constraint alwaysbreeds creativity.
I love that quote from MarkTwain said I didn't have time to
write a short letter, so Iwrote a long one instead.
Yeah, I also love the part thatyou mentioned about if the idea
is not working, then let it go.
When we've worked together, youknow we've had folders of

(05:59):
briefs and half of them didn'tgo anywhere, but it's just.
One of us had an idea, tried itout and come to our own
realization.

J.B. (06:07):
That way, this isn't ready or it didn't work, and keep
that folder there because, likeone, you kill your darlings all
the time and there are, likethere are all these ideas that
like we've spun up and haven'tmoved forward.
But oftentimes, you know, yearslater we want to revisit
something and it was likeremember that thing that we were

(06:31):
talking about three years agoand it's like it might be having
its moment now and you can justpull it up and be like I think
it's ready, change this and that, change this, that, and like
context is different andleadership is different and the
idea is ready to move forward.

Micah (06:49):
Yeah, it can work.
A little gift to your futureself yeah, love it, yeah.
So, beyond the basics, what canmake the brief or briefing
process really sing?

J.B. (06:59):
You know I love the conversation that you had about
managing up a few weeks ago.
It's Katie Bowles yeah, withKatie, and a lot of people miss
like a basic step.
But if you're writing a briefto influence a leader or
leadership team, go back andread their published priorities
and goals.
Whether your brief aligns withtheir priorities is usually

(07:21):
going to be a great indicator asto whether your idea is going
to move forward or not.
So read the room Exactly.
A truly great brief is going topaint the picture of what the
world looks like if your ideadoes not get implemented.
Asking your leaders to considerand compare the impact if

(07:42):
there's no investment in theproblem area can be an
incredibly powerful way to sellthem into your idea.
So that comparison is really astrong way to influence.

Micah (07:56):
All right, everyone.
It's time to put on your briefs.
That's right and listeners.
If you're not already, you canfollow JB Skelton on Instagram
along with unseriousfun.
In the show notes we'll havethe link to the PDF cheat sheet
that accompanies every Upshotsepisode.
Just scroll down to that bigyellow button at the bottom of

(08:16):
the episode page.
This podcast is brought to youby Unserious Group.
We are a communications andstrategic consulting practice
that helps companies and leadersnavigate the rapidly changing
workplace by lowering the stakesand working more efficiently,
playfully and creatively, andwe're open for business.
So check out unseriouscom andlet's be work friends At

(08:37):
Unserious.
What do we do, jb?

J.B. (08:40):
We make work, play and talk about underpants.