Maximize Your Mediocrity
Give yourself permission to be dull, and you free the bandwidth to be great.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
Drawing on improv's principle of 'dare to be dull,' Abrahams tells his Stanford students the goal is to maximize their mediocrity. His analogy: the brain is like a computer, and every app of self-judgment you leave open steals bandwidth from the communication itself. When you drop the demand to be perfect, you free up capacity to connect and get the point across well. He argues memorizing is counterproductive because half your brain checks the script instead of communicating.
Origin
The idea grew out of the improvisation principle 'dare to be dull,' which Abrahams encountered while researching communication across academic domains, then reframed as 'maximize your mediocrity' for his Stanford Business School classes.
Core principles
- 01The brain has limited bandwidth, like a device with many apps open.
- 02Self-judgment and the drive for perfection consume the bandwidth needed to communicate.
- 03It's about connection, not perfection.
- 04Memorizing word-for-word is the enemy of communication because part of your brain polices the script.
How to run it
- 1
Grant permission to be mediocre
Consciously release the demand to say the right thing in the right way at the right time.
Pro tip Abrahams opens his Stanford class by telling students to 'maximize your mediocrity' precisely because the pressure to be perfect is what breaks them.
- 2
Reframe the goal as connection
Set the aim as connecting with the person and conveying the information, not impressing them.
- 3
Trade memorization for a road map
Use a structure and familiar bullet points you know, rather than memorizing word for word.
Watch out Memorizing forces part of your brain to constantly check 'am I saying what I memorized,' leaving less to actually communicate.
In the wild
Abrahams likens the brain to a phone or laptop: every open app or window runs less well because bandwidth is spread thin. Judging and evaluating your own perfection is like leaving dozens of apps open while trying to communicate.
→ Speakers recognize that dropping self-judgment frees the very bandwidth that lets them communicate well.
Abrahams starts each quarter telling business students the goal of the class is to maximize their mediocrity, then closes by revealing the reason: removing the pressure to be perfect is what unlocks communication greatness.
→ Students who have never been told to be mediocre learn to lower self-pressure and perform better.
Common mistakes
Memorizing word for word
Verbatim memorization forces part of the brain to police the script, leaving too little capacity to actually communicate.
Staying silent unless it's brilliant
Refusing to speak until you have something impressive means you miss the connection and momentum that ordinary contributions create.
Is it for you?
Best for
High achievers and perfectionists who won't speak unless they're sure it's brilliant.
Not ideal for
Situations demanding precise, verbatim wording such as legal or safety-critical statements.
From the transcript
“I've transformed that into what I call maximize your mediocrity.”
“I told you to maximize mediocrity and the reason is so you can achieve communication greatness.”
From the episode
Matt Abrahams: Spontaneous Speaking for Entrepreneurs, How to Communicate Confidently On the Spot
Matt Abrahams