Years ago, while working at a large information technology consulting company, I attended a meeting with one of our customers, Blue Cross Blue Shield. Also in attendance was a senior engineer from my company named Bret. During the meeting someone asked Bret a question about the billing system. I could feel a collective groan sweep over my colleagues. Bret immediately launched into the tortuous details of database deadlocks, the proper use of semaphores, and the pros and cons of non-relational databases in high-volume accounting systems.

In the correct setting, Bret’s comments would have been perfectly appropriate and interesting. There was, technically speaking, nothing wrong with his comments. With our clients, however, Bret was completely bogged down in the details. One by one the client team’s faces glazed over. Our sales director put his face in his hands and moaned in dismay.

Bret knew his comments were not valued. He said to me later, “Alan, I know people want me to stay out of the weeds, but it is difficult when they don’t know anything, and the answer is complicated.”

It can be difficult for smart people who understand complicated subjects to keep their explanations simple. Performing that task well, however, is precisely what distinguishes great SMEs from mediocre ones.

Great SMEs always tailor their comments to the skills of their audience and the context of the situation. They rarely go into the weeds.