How Would You Explain This To Your Grandma?

There are many things in life you’ll have to explain to your grandma. Some of them will be good, some of them bad, and some of them will be downright mind-blowing. And some will never get to be fully explained before they hit you with a polite smile and nod to just move on already. But have you ever thought about if you had to explain technology to your grandma?

Now I’m not talking about the simple things like “press here to turn your computer on” or “that noise coming from your purse means someone is calling you. Yes, that’s your phone ringing”. I’m talking about the big-time deep complex concepts that even technologically savvy people have a hard time explaining to other technologically savvy people who know exactly what you’re talking about.

Neither of you can fully explain the concept, but you’re both so lost (yet at the same time know exactly what you mean) that you find common ground in your lostness and decide “We’re close enough to what we mean, and we know it, so this will do as an explanation”. Imagine having to explain that level of concept to your grandma or grandparent.

If that’s not bad enough, imagine this task being one of your interview questions for a new job you applied for! Well, that’s exactly the situation I found myself in during a six-person panel interview.

I don’t fully remember what my answer was, but I remember the feeling of shock after hearing the question vividly. “If you had to explain a difficult technology concept to your grandma, what topic would you choose and how would you best explain it?”

Oftentimes we want to go for the gusto in our interviews and prove how smart and capable we are. It’s not always a smart idea or best practice but we want to really wow them so we can stand out from the pack. I’m not one to back down from a challenge so I did just that. I went for the gusto!

I chose to attempt to explain how coding languages were similar to human languages and how some web pages only worked with certain browsers. I explained there was a language barrier between the two and it was as if you went to a new country and couldn’t function because you didn’t speak the language.

Now, I don’t know if my grandma would have understood that or if anyone’s grandma would have understood that, but it sounded good under pressure and stress!

I understood why they would ask such a question though. Working in IT is all about explaining concepts at the most basic level possible to the non-tech savvy. Most could care less about how the thing worked as long as the thing got back to work so they could resume life as normal.

Either way, our job is to make life easier and support those who aren’t as knowledgeable as us in this certain area. Everyone has their special gifts, however, and that’s another reason why I love working in IT. The people you meet and the stories you hear that stem from interactions like these.

I’ve met plenty of people who don’t know a lick about technology, but they’ve been around the world, experienced cultures, met high-profile individuals, and experienced things some of us will only dream of.

Whether it’s IT or whatever your area of expertise is, remember, everyone has their thing that they’re good at. Just because they’re not proficient in your field doesn’t mean they won’t embarrass and annihilate you in another subject.

I think that’s also the second side and hidden objective of the grandma question. Not only do they want to see how good you are at explaining complex concepts, but also want to gain an idea of how you may treat a customer in a frustrating situation that requires patience.

If you were in this situation and had to choose a difficult topic to explain to your grandma, what topic would you choose? Doesn’t necessarily have to be an IT-related concept. I’m just genuinely curious about what people would choose as their topic when faced with this question and how they would choose to explain it.

Let me know! Let’s talk!

P.S. Spoiler alert. I didn’t get hired for that job. I guess my explanation wasn’t good enough and grandma was still confused. You win some, you lose some! 🥲