Geoff Steck's TGIM #283: THE SIMPLICITY OF LITTLE THINGS

THANK GOODNESS IT’S MONDAY  

TGIM #283

‘TIS THE SEASON TO REMEMBER

THE SIMPLICITY OF LITTLE THINGS

Here’s an early-ish Christmas gift:  Some years ago I received a bit of everyday writing advice with a seasonal slant. I’m passing it along to you now in the hope that you can use it to improve communication in both your business and personal world.

It originated as a memo about writing memos. Typed on a typewriter and with carbon copies, if you can imagine! But the underlying wisdom it effectively communicates holds for all manner of connecting and communicating in this digital age.

If you like it, share it. Forward, blog, post, tweet and or re-tweet a link. Or print it out and post it near the office coffee pot. Or – heavens – pass it around like an old-fashioned memo.

It’s a seasonal gift for you. TGIM readers and friends have permission share and/or to adapt this (with attribution please) for their own use and distribution.

As the headline declares, it’s about –

The Simplicity Of Little Things

Things rarely “get started” anymore, especially when it comes to writing for business. Instead they’re “initiated,” “instigated,” “inaugurated,” or “activated.”

Policies are “implemented.”

Equipment is no longer “used” -- it’s “utilized.”

Managers don’t “try” something -- they “attempt” or “endeavor.”

They don’t ask you to find things out -- they want you to “ascertain.”

They don’t ask you to get things for them -- they ask you to “secure” or “obtain.”

Instead of helping, they “render assistance.”

Even when a leader with authority knows something, they’re more likely to be “cognizant of the facts.” (And speaking of facts, why is it that facts are no longer just facts but rather are usually qualified as “pertinent?”)

Things don’t even “end” anymore – they’re “finalized,” “completed,” and “concluded.”

In a nutshell: When you unnecessarily use big words to express a simple thought, you waste your time and the reader’s.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Consider the simple directness of this note to Santa:

Dear Santa,

Here’s what I want for Christmas.

   Xbox

   Basketball

   Ice skates

   Two-wheel bike.

When you come on Christmas Eve, I will leave milk and cookies for you and a carrot for the reindeer.

Your friend,

Bobby Brown

Bobby’s reason for writing is to communicate an idea and get some action. The writing is clear and direct. It’s free from big words, fancy language, long sentences, and passive verbs.

He talks right to the reader. He refers to himself as “I” and to Santa Claus as “you.” Although he gets to the point quickly and ends when he has said all he has to say, the letter has a friendly tone.

But all too soon: Bobby will grow up … finish school … rise to a position of prominence in business and the community. He’ll develop his vocabulary and pick up a lot of strange ideas about writing.

He’ll learn to protect himself by hedging. He’ll learn to bulk up his writing with meaningless, roundabout phrases that look impressive but say very little.

If he was 20 years older when he wrote his note to Santa, it would probably read like this:

Mr. Santa Claus

Gift Fulfillment Section

Candy Cane Lane

North Pole

Dear Mr. Claus:

It has recently come to my attention that you are currently planning your annual visitation to those sectors of the planet heretofore serviced by your organization.

Please be advised that I would appreciate your presence in this vicinity at your earliest convenience, at which time I would like to requisition the following items from your extensive stock, namely:

ITEM                                                                     QUANTITY

Game console and controller                                                   1

   Xbox 360 250GB with Kinect Sensor         

Basketball                                                                                  1

  Wilson NCAA Solution Official

  Composite Indoor Game ball

Skates, ice                                                                                 1 pair

   Riedell Ice skates 121 RS

   in black - Topaz blade

Bicycle                                                                                        1

  Toy Story 3 Bike (16-Inch Wheels)

   by Huffy

In the event that one or more of the aforementioned selection are unavailable at this time, kindly substitute merchandise of like quality and value.

Thanking you in advance for your kind attention to the above, I remain,

Respectfully yours,

 Robert S. Brown

Robert S. Brown

P.S. Suitable refreshments will be provided for the duration of your visit.

That finalizes – oops! I mean “ends” – the most straightforward self-improvement part of this TGIM.

But, since “’tis the season,” I’d like to take the opportunity to share one more seasonally related thought.

It’s not all about the presents

It’s probably safe to observe, without delving too deeply into the religious aspects of the holiday, that every child (and the child in every one of us) should understand that the getting of “presents” isn’t why Christmas and other wintertime holidays are widely observed and celebrated.

Undoubtedly you and yours share in your particular traditions at this winter-solstice time of the year, the darkest in our hemisphere. The parameters of celebrating may range widely. But like Bobby’s letter to Santa, I think it’s important to –

Honor the simple things

TGIM ACTION IDEA: The true meaning of Christmas season is not about getting presents, but more about giving to others … making them happy … and celebrating how much they mean to you.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Let the people in your life, small and big, know that and you give them – and, interestingly, yourself -- the best gift of all.

All wrapped up.

And tied with a bow.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square, Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “Who can be insensible to the outpourings of good feeling, and the honest interchange of affectionate attachment, which abound at this season of the year?... There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas. Petty jealousies and discords are forgotten; social feelings are awakened, in bosoms to which they have long been strangers; father and son, or brother and sister, who have met and passed with averted gaze, or a look of cold recognition, for months before, proffer and return the cordial embrace, and bury their past animosities in their present happiness. Kindly hearts that have yearned towards each other, but have been withheld by false notions of pride and self-dignity, are again reunited, and all is kindness and benevolence! Would that Christmas lasted the whole year through (as it ought), and that the prejudices and passions which deform our better nature were never called into action among those to whom they should ever be strangers!” From Charles Dickens’ first Christmas short story, “A Christmas Dinner,” first published in 1835 in Bell's Life of London.

GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.