Pick one thing you are about to hand someone. A class, a deck, a proposal, an email, a training. Answer all eight questions about that one thing, and the filter will show you whether it is a route someone can walk or armor built for protection.
1. Can you finish this sentence in one line: when this is over, they can ____?
2. How many steps does someone have to hold in their head to use this?
3. Could you walk someone through it from memory, with no slides, no notes, and no PDF open?
4. Look at each piece, one by one. How many are in there because they help the other person do something, and how many are in there because they help you feel safe?
5. Is there a piece in there you are proud of because it was hard to build, even though it does not move them toward the outcome?
6. Does the person receiving this need to consult it, or walk it?
7. If you had to hit send right now, how would you feel?
8. Did any part of this get bigger because a tool offered more steps, more modules, or more bonuses, and you kept them?
What your result means
Highest and best (0 to 5)
Someone can walk this and remember the turns. The outcome is clear, the steps fit on one hand, and what is in there is there for them.
Next action: Send it. If you want one more pass, ask whether a smaller version would still get the same outcome. If it would, you edited packaging. If it would not, it is ready.
Packaging to trim (6 to 10)
The outcome is in there, but so is some armor. A few pieces are protecting you more than they are serving the person on the other side.
Next action: Sort everything into two piles: the stuff that helps them do something, and the stuff that helps you feel safe. Cut the second pile. Then ask whether the smaller version still gets the same outcome. If it does, you edited packaging.
A binder, not a route (11 to 16)
This is built for protection, not for the person receiving it. More is acting as armor here, and the person on the other side will probably take home stuck.
Next action: Go back to the first question and finish this sentence: when this is over, they can ____. Rebuild from that sentence and keep the steps between three and five. Cut the pieces you are proud of but that do not move them toward the outcome. Pride is a terrible editor.
FAQ
What is the Highest and Best Fit Filter?
It is three questions you run your material through before you send it: what can they do when this is over that they could not do beforehand, who is each piece for, and is this the final send? The questions sort everything into two piles: the stuff that helps them do something, and the stuff that helps you feel safe. The name comes from real estate, where a buyer submits a highest and best offer when the clock is running out. Jess runs all of her material through this same filter before she sends it.
What is the difference between a resource and a route?
A resource is something people consult. It has to be as big as it needs to be, because nobody is carrying it in their head. A route is something somebody has to walk, and it only works if they can remember where the next turn is. The trouble starts when we hand people a resource and call it a route. Some things do need to be big. A legal contract is long, and a reference manual gives somebody all of the steps. The question is whether the person on the other side needs to look something up or take the next step.
How many steps should a process have?
Between three and five. That is enough fingers on one hand to reference, which makes it tactile for kinesthetic learners and visual for visual learners. They can write the steps down and not get lost in a list. The test Jess uses on her own material: if she cannot carry her own process without some sort of visual crutch, what are the odds that somebody in the room can walk away with it?
Why do we add more when more is not better?
Because more feels like safety. It is armor. We believe that the more information or the more assets we hand over, the less anyone can say we did not earn the right to be there. Jess calls it a mask for imposter syndrome, fueled by performance anxiety: a presenter's version of walking into an interview with a binder so thick that nobody could ever ask what is missing. And now that volume is nearly free to produce, more is not even convincing anymore. Nobody leaves a training remembering how much you covered. They remember whether it worked and whether they felt capable enough to do the thing afterwards.
What do I do after I cut something?
Run the safety check. Ask whether the smaller version still gets the same outcome. If it does, you edited packaging. If it does not, figure out what to put back. Watch for the cuts that sting. Those are usually the pieces you are proud of because they were hard to build. Hard to build and useful to your audience are two totally different measurements, and the first one only matters to you.
Go deeper
In Episode 34, Jess tells the story of scrapping her Lead Magnets Made Simple class two hours before it started, cutting eight steps down to five, and the filter she has used since her teaching days to decide what stays and what goes. The tool runs your material through that same filter. The episode tells you why it works.
Listen to Ep 34: How to Simplify What You Teach
Related
- Episode 30: The Last Word Rule
- Episode 31: How to Know If a Membership Is Worth It
- Tool: Introduce Yourself Worksheet
Big Ideas Made Simple is a weekly podcast for entrepreneurs and fast thinkers building a business around who they are and how they operate. Hosted by Jess Webber. New episodes Mondays at bigideasmadesimple.captivate.fm.
Get the next one
Got your result? Get the next idea like it each week.
Three steps. About 20 minutes. Type everything on your mind, answer two questions about each one, and see what to keep, hand off, protect, and drop this week. You get the sheet right away, plus my weekly email afterwards.
