For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn.
Hemingway didn’t write it, but we credit him because it feels like something he would have.
It hit me hard when I first came across it.
A great example of brevity and the power of what’s unsaid.
It’s a great tool when thinking about challenges and opportunities. With the vanishing attention spans of audiences, we need more six-word stories.
Boiling down the truth-telling so we can build plans with meaning.
Right idea. Wrong time. Nobody cared.
Chased trends. Lost identity. Vanished quietly.
Teams busy. Goals unclear. Nothing landed.
Built big. No need. Shrank fast.
When our human imagination (HI) kicks in and fills in the stories, it replaces what could take 47 slides to explain.
The constraint forces clarity. The brevity demands honesty.
Started small. Grew smart. Scaled naturally.
Found niche. Stayed true. Customers followed.
Clear mission. Right people. Magic happened.
Perfect timing. Market ready. Everyone won.
Storm hit. Adapted fast. Emerged stronger.
When you only have six words, you can’t hide behind lengthy rationale or jargon. You either nail the truth or you waste everyone’s time.
That’s the goal, isn’t it? In business, in life, in the stories we tell ourselves about what matters.
The shortest stories echo longest because they leave room for our imagination to fill the gaps.
And our imagination? That’s where the real work happens.
