3 quick things

Hardwired, they said.

My mom tells a story from long ago when I was very young — barely 3 or 4 years old. My grandfather asked me what I hoped to learn at preschool.

“Three things,” I replied. “How to read, how to play the piano, and how not to cry when I have a shampoo.”

I share this story not just to point out my long-ago comedic timing, but because it’s my own personal proof that we’re hard-wired to be receptive to the single, simplest, most powerful rule of communication.

That rule is called the Rule of 3, and it underpins some of the most effective speeches, jokes, and stories that we all know. A few examples:

1. During times of peril, we talk about dedicating “blood, sweat, and tears” to the cause, about a nation “of the people, by the people, for the people,” and values including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

2. When we’re children, we read stories about the Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and maybe even the Three Musketeers.

3. Or else, we tell jokes when we get older: “A doctor, a lawyer, and an engineer are playing golf one beautiful morning…” (I’ll finish the joke at the end of this newsletter.)

More relevant and instructive for you now, as a business leader, is to examine how we use the Rule of 3 habitually, how we actually seek it out when we’re listening to others, and yet, paradoxically, how people often forget the rule when it could help the most.

The Rule of 3 works for at least three reasons (no surprise there, I’m sure):

1. First, because human beings respond to patterns, and the optimal number of things that are required to create a pattern is three. Fewer than three, and there’s no pattern; more than three, and the chances of overthinking and finding false or irrelevant patterns increases.

2. Second, because we respond to change, and if you articulate three things, you almost always create an imbalance that leads to change. The odds are that either all three things go together, or that two of them go together, while the third represents an exception. It’s either 3 to 0, or else 2 to 1; either rhetorical outcome changes the status quo ante.

3. Finally, because most people can remember three things at the same time without taking time to study them. The U.S. Marine Corps uses the Rule of 3 throughout its organization for exactly this reason: three Marines in a fire team; three fire teams in a squad, etc.

So, how should you use the Rule of 3 in business if you’re not already?

1. Optimally, meetings, presentations, and plans should be organized around three big objectives or agenda items. This doesn’t always mean ignoring other items; it can mean reorganizing them so that they reflect groups of three.

2. When leading or counseling employees: Identify two things that the employee is doing well and one key thing to improve. This often might mean meeting more often but about fewer things, for example.

3. In advertising and marketing: Focus on three benefits to the customer. Bonus points, at least sometimes, if the third of the three can be a bit incongruous or apposite; that’s where the humor can come from.

Speaking of which:

A doctor, a lawyer, and an engineer are playing golf one beautiful morning. The group ahead is moving slowly, and they’re annoyed until they learn that it’s a foursome made up of firefighters who lost their sight while rescuing people from a burning building.

• “They’re heroes,” says the doctor. “I wonder if any of my physician friends can help.”

• “I agree,” says the lawyer. “I’d love to offer my services to help them get compensated.”

• “It’s too bad,” says the engineer. “But why can’t they just play at night?”

OK, maybe it’s not the funniest joke ever. But imagine how much worse it would be without the Rule of 3.

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7 other things

• A U.S. jury awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor, CACI, responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago. The jury awarded plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’ad Al-Zubae $3 million each in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages. The three testified that they were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other cruel treatment at the prison. (AP)

• Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who prosecutors said "perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history," was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release. Teixeira enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019, had top secret security clearance beginning in 2021, and began posting classified documents online in January 2022. (ABC News)

• Incoming Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) was told he could not bring his bulldog "Babydog" onto the Senate floor on Tuesday during orientation, three sources in the room tell Axios. Babydog is a political celebrity, often accompanying Justice to events and famously taking the stage at the Republican National Convention. But she apparently won't be at his side during legislative sessions in the Senate. (Axios)

• A married father of three named Ryan Borgwardt, who disappeared in August while on a fishing trip in Wisconsin is now suspected of having faked his own death and fled to Europe via Canada. As investigators delved into Borgwardt’s life, they discovered he had transferred funds to a foreign bank account, changed his email and communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan -- plus a six-month old, $375,000 life insurance policy. (CNN)

• Using LED lighting on the underside of surfboards or kayaks could deter great white shark attacks, new research suggests. In an Australian-led study using seal-shaped decoys, underside lighting disrupted the ability of great whites to see silhouettes against the sunlight above, reducing the rates at which the sharks followed and attacked the artificial prey. The brighter the lights, the more effective the deterrent was. (The Guardian)

• The global market for standing desks is booming, projected to reach US$12.6 billion by 2032. These desks have been hailed as a simple fix for the health risks associated with sitting all day. However, recent research suggests that standing might not be the health booster many hoped for. A new study from Australia involving over 83,000 participants found that prolonged standing may not improve heart health and could even increase the risk of certain circulatory problems. (CNN)

• Since we've already included 2 CNN articles today: CNN is planning to wield the axe on some of its high-paid staff after dismal election ratings that cap off a disastrous period for the cable news network. According to an explosive new report from Puck, network executives will unleash sweeping lay-offs in a bid to save the network's flailing reputation. It comes after the departure of stalwart Chris Wallace, and amid reports senior stars like Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper have both been denied raises. (Daily Mail)

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Thanks for reading. Photo by Declan Sun on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this Inc.com. See you in the comments—I really do hope people join in!