Blog - plain text english - The Art of Communicating

My secret second life

I don’t speak about this often on this platform, but I live a second life in which I run a business with my wife, Stephanie.

So, here’s a little secret. I actually published two new books this year, not one.

I’ve told you a lot about “The PATH to Strategic Impact”. But nothing about the other one.

It’s a children’s book.

Six years ago, Stephanie and I launched “The Grumbletroll”, one of Germany’s beloved children’s book series. (The original German name is even cuter: “Der Grolltroll”.)

This year, we released volume 6 of the series. It’s called “Jetzt reicht’s!” (“Enough is enough!”) and I think it’s important and timely.

How often do we just let the selfish guys get away with their recklessness? How often do we tolerate them crossing boundaries? We think we’re being empathetic or the “bigger person” in the room. But we’re really just reinforcing their bad behavior.

It’s important to learn early that we need to speak up when boundaries are crossed. Enough is enough! This is my space and you ought to respect that.

The little Grumbletroll and his friends learn this when they go to the amazing new playground, only to be greeted by a group of reckless bullies. The situation escalates until the Grumbletroll does what he does best. He erupts. But this time for a very good reason. He sets the boundary in his own unmistakable style.

Hope you and your kids like it!

PS: The books are co-authored by us and Barbara van den Speulhof, illustrated by Stephan Pricken, and published by Coppenrath. Volumes 1-4 are available in English (and many other languages).

The first step

Honestly now, how often have you shied away from that first step because you feared it could be the wrong direction?

Did that make “standing still” the right direction, though?

That’s the misconception. We think we’re *waiting* for the right moment to take the step, but I find it more helpful to think of it as moving *on the spot*.

Time passes while we wait. And so we should take that into account: You’re making a choice in any case.

When we do take that step, we at least know a little more … and can make a more informed choice about the next one.

Most importantly, to light the path for those who are to follow.

Every path starts with a first step.
It’s unlikely that you discover your path by standing still.

An earthquake of an aha

Many people think about aha moments as these sudden flashes of brilliance, much like a lightning bolt from the sky.

But I tend to think that it’s much more like an earthquake, where there’s a lot happening beneath the surface before that moment of revelation.

When you think about it like this, you realize that it’s actually not really what you say that creates the aha, but much more what the audience feels when they finally connect the dots.

You’ve planted the seeds in their minds, but it was their brains who made them bloom.

What this also means is that the best aha moments happen when you don’t over explain, when you leave them the space to make their own leaps, when you give them time to let it brew up to that moment where it finally erupts.

Have you tried that?

How 2 Simple Words Disrupted an Entire Industry

In the 1970s, Southwest Airlines realized a simple truth: a plane on the ground is a plane losing money.

No matter how good the seats or the food, if the wheels are down, the airline is losing money.

Therefore, Southwest focused on one goal: getting planes back up in the air as fast as possible. While competitors chased comfort, Southwest chased time.

Every minute saved on the ground meant more profit. They didn’t win with better service, but with better strategy.

But the real brilliance is in how they framed the strategy, using just two words: Wheels up!

Not jargon, not lofty missions – just something everyone understood.

Contrast that with how others would frame it:
“We want to be the industry leader in carrier efficiency.”

Sounds impressive, but ultimately meaningless to the staff. When faced with a choice, how does the crew, ground team, or catering know what to do?

With Southwest’s Wheels up!, there’s a simple test: will your choice help the wheels go up? If yes, absolutely do it. If not, absolutely don’t.

It works because it’s:

Visual: You can see it.
Concrete: You know what it means.
Actionable: It drives behavior.

“Wheels Up” gave Southwest focus. Everyone knew what success looks like. Not a vague aspiration, but something you could watch happen every time a plane left the ground.

That’s the magic of their approach.

They took a simple operational truth and told it in plain English so that everyone could act on it.

P.S. Want more examples of how the right words can make a bigger impact? Check out my new book, The PATH to Strategic Impact!

RIP, simplicity!

“You strive to keep your strategy plain and simple, but in the boardroom, where shareholder demands and market pressures collide, simplicity is often the first casualty.”

Sound familiar?
It’s the eternal struggle.

The bigger the group, the harder it is to commit to a plain and simple way of defining your path.

The worst part:
→ The different perspectives are valid.
→ The opportunities real.
→ The people smart.
They have a point.

And so, the group agrees to the vague and general.
Rather than the concrete and specific.

They use jargon and categorical language.
Rather than plain and simple words.

They make the compromise.
Rather than the bold commitment.

Make no mistake: That commitment to a strikingly simple path is tough.

You’ll probably have difficult conversations to arrive at truly simple words to describe it – in plain English with concrete examples and specific measures.

But it’s also what makes everything else so much easier.

Have you experienced those meetings?
How did you deal with it?

PS: The quote from above is an excerpt from my new book “The PATH to Strategic Impact”.

Taking action

Why do some strategies sound brilliant in the boardroom but never take off in the real world?

Well, thinking up the strategy is one thing. But time and again I’ve seen that the real challenge is getting the team to act according to the strategy. That’s a completely different thing.

The idea of a strategy just isn’t enough.
Acting on that idea is what makes the leap happen.

Which means:
Communication makes the difference.

Is it
→ Plain and simple (so everyone understands it)?
→ Actionable (so everyone knows the actions)?
→ Transformative (so it encourages bold moves)?
→ Heartfelt (so everyone embraces it)?

It’s a mistake to think that the course of your organization is shaped by the boardroom resolution. It’s much more the sum of the thousands of tiny choices and actions that follow from it.

Each team member, from yourself making acquisitions to the junior drafting prototypes, contributes to the journey.

And if you want all of these actions aligned, you need to light the PATH!

So, how many of your team members truly understand the essence of your strategy and can act on it with clarity and conviction?

(The “PATH to Strategic Impact” is out now! Click to take a look inside.)

The brutal truth

To get serious about your strategy communication, this is the question you need to explore:

→ If you asked every member of your team what the essence of your strategy is, what would each of them say?

The response can be brutal.
But by facing that truth, you’ve made the first step to improving it.

Now you know.
Now you can tweak it.
Now you can start building your PATH.

Wayne Brown and I had a wonderful conversation on his podcast The ET Project about the four PATH principles.

Near the end, he asked me if there was one piece of advice I could give to get started with the PATH. And I think it’s that question from above.

I highly encourage you to listen to the full episode. It’s a great place to start for an overview of the four PATH principles.

Now go ask your team!

PS: By the way, what if I asked you? Could you give a plain and simple answer? What’s the essence of your strategy?

Thank you!

Thank you!
You are amazing!

I’ve been overwhelmed by the messages of support from across the globe—ranging from close friends to people I’ve never met.

I had planned to continue with my regular posts, but I just can’t help but pause and feel deeply grateful for this.

That huge wave of love I’ve seen across platforms felt special. From Argentina to Japan, from the US to Australia, from Africa to Europe, that was just a phenomenal welcome of my new book.

I feel blessed to be surrounded by all of you!

And it got me thinking what is a book without a reader?

A book, no matter how beautifully written, can only make an impact through its readers. Without you, it’s merely ink on paper – a lesson unlearned, an idea unshared.

It’s the reader who brings life to the words, who interprets and feels the meaning behind them, who puts those ideas into action.

I’ve been absolutely blown away by your reactions to “The PATH to Strategic Impact”. So many of you have already ordered a copy or even started to read the eBook.

I began writing this book because I felt it was needed.
I stuck with it because the process was deeply rewarding.
I’ve been joined by incredible people and had fascinating conversations.
I’ve learnt so much along the way.

In short: The journey until the launch has been pure joy.

A reward in itself.

Whatever the launch would bring would be “on top”.

What happened was way beyond my wildest expectations!

Thank you …
and keep lighting the path!

The PATH to Strategic Impact

I’m bursting with pride.

This is “The PATH to Strategic Impact”. And it’s out today!

I’ve seen so many businesses struggle to make a bigger impact, not because their strategy is flawed, but because the team doesn’t fully understand it, embrace it, and act on it. In other words: because the communication doesn’t work.

But in 16 years of working with leaders across the globe, I’ve also seen time and again that the solution can be surprisingly simple. When I compared this with case studies of some of the world’s most successful businesses, it became clear that it’s usually the same principles that make the difference, the four PATH principles:

Plain and Simple: Is it crystal clear and easy to understand?
Actionable: Does everyone see how to put it into action?
Transformative: Do you encourage bold moves?
Heartfelt: Are you and your team passionate about your strategy?

Together, these principles will help you:
→ Dramatically boost the effectiveness of your strategic initiatives
→ Shift from reacting under pressure to proactively setting the pace
→ Cultivate a workforce of intuitive strategic thinkers

I hope you’ll like it and that it can help light the path to your strategic impact!

You can check it out here!

A special thank you to my wife Stephanie, my family, and my incredible friends, colleagues, and clients for their unwavering support. To Alex M H Smith for writing the foreword. And to the teachers and mentors who’ve helped shape my path.

The Shift

We’ve all been there.

The endless planning, refining, and tweaking. The meetings where strategies are discussed and decisions feel just out of reach.

You feel like you’re almost there—just a little more time, a little more clarity, and it’ll all fall into place.

But here’s the thing: it never feels like it’s quite enough.

The clarity you seek is always one step further away.

Plus: All the planning in the world doesn’t matter until you decide to act.

It’s easy to get caught in the cycle of preparation—tuning ideas, debating decisions, feeling productive without ever moving forward.

But growth doesn’t happen in planning.
Impact not in debates and discussions.

The shift happens when you move. When you take the leap, despite the uncertainty. When the idea becomes more than just a thought and starts shaping reality.

Tomorrow, The PATH to Strategic Impact goes live.
It stops the tweaking for me.
I hope it can stop the overthinking for you.

And I hope it can help you light the path to a bigger impact.

What’s the step you’re about to (finally) make?

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