One Simple Thing

How would you describe yourself in one simple word or phrase?

It’s hard, isn’t it? How do you narrow down all the aspects of your personality and life into a couple words that encompass everything? I recently listened to a talk that explained just how important being able to do this is. The speaker told us that we needed to find our ONE SIMPLE THING.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m working for a company called EqualApp (@EqualApp), which provides affordable college admissions counseling from former admissions officers at top colleges across the country. What I didn’t mention is that EqualApp is a finalist for MassChallenge.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, MassChallenge is the world’s largest competition for startup companies. As a finalist, EqualApp has had the opportunity to move into the MassChallenge offices for the summer, along with about 120 other small companies. We also get to listen to a host of really fantastic speakers. For example, Scott Griffith, the CEO of Zipcar came by and I got to meet Jeff Taylor, the founder of Monster.com. The talk that really stood out to me though was by Chris Colbert, the CEO of Holland-Mark, an advertising and marketing agency based in Boston.

Mr. Colbert called his talk “Finding Your One Simple Thing”. He explained how important it is to have whatever your product, and who your customers are figured out so well that you can sell just with one basic idea of who you are. He said, “The point of the One Simple Thing is not to be everything, but rather to be the wedge that holds the door open. You want people to say, “Really? Tell me more.”

Mr. Colbert was talking about businesses, but I think this applies to people too. For example, think about applying to colleges. Those admissions officers read application after application and meet hundreds of potential students every year. How do you make yourself stand out? You have to take control of the message you are sending. Mr. Colbert said, “If you don’t take control of your message, the market will create one for you.” You don’t want the admissions office or anyone else for that matter assuming something about who you are or what you’re all about. You want to be in total control of that. In this vein, I have adapted Mr. Colbert’s steps to finding the One Simple Thing to three key points on college admissions:

1. Figure out what the college is actually looking for – What is the spirit of the college? What are the major themes? What do College X’s students represent?
2. Have a clear message – what are YOU actually about? What are the major themes in your life? What do you represent?
3. Be consistent from your claim to your delivery – Make sure you can prove, through your experiences and achievements, that you really are what you claim to be.

So now… what is YOUR One Simple Thing?