Breaking Through ...

In my current job (in academe) I read a lot of dreadful student papers and obtuse academic or administrative tomes. Sometimes I despair that we are losing our ability to communicate.

Faced with this tower of Babel, I have turned to three touchstones of good writing: a new book, an old standby, and some good advice from colleagues.

The first is Made to Stick Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath. You can easily find it at the bookstore ... it's the book with duct tape on the cover. The book is filled with practical advice for getting your ideas noticed and remembered.

The old standby is The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. I make an appointment to re-read this classic every few years. I'm up to the fourth edition. Some may complain that the book is too focused on rules. But rules are necessary for good communication (just look at the wild west of email communication). Beyond the rules, there's good advice here: "Write in a way that comes naturally." "Don't explain too much." "Be clear." That's great advice both for my students and my sometimes-obtuse-and-unclear colleagues.

The final bit of advice that has stuck with me came from my journalism school background and an early boss - both of whom taught me that good writing is hard work. Write and re-write. Edit so that your message is, as one j-school professor insisted, "tight, terse, telegraphic and to-the-point." I often advise my students to read their papers aloud. The ear can catch syntax errors and jumbled logic that somehow is hidden on the page.

I don't want to squelch the evolution of language anymore than I would want to see the return of "thee" and "thou" in our vocabulary. But I would like to see the evolution of the English language result in clarity and effective communication. Not the Tower of Babel.

Technology's Siren Song

Let me begin by saying: I like technology. In fact, I'm something of a geek. I bought my first computer in the 80s when prices were sky high and memory was minuscule. I even worked in High Tech for fourteen months during the infamous bubble.

There are limits to the proper use of technology, however, and like so many things I see misuse of technology applications that are due to a misunderstanding of fundamental strategy. The latest instance - which prompted me to write this entry - was a newspaper story about the state of Hawaii considering moving toward internet voting. That sounds really cool. It's easy. It saves money. You can vote in the comfort of your own home. So, technology's siren song is calling the state to move away from a proven and strategically sound system.

Here's the problem that I see with internet voting: there is a fundamental tenet of our American system that will get compromised with internet voting and that is the secret ballot. When you are voting on your computer, who might be looking over your shoulder? For most people, I don't doubt that they will vote their conscience in the privacy of their own home or cubicle. But ... what's to prevent special interest groups from organizing voting parties complete with campaign-like speeches and propaganda? What if unions or religious organizations have their members come into their halls to vote as a bloc? What about people with low computer literacy skills? Can a an organization with an agenda "help" them vote?? I believe that there is a ton of mischief that can be done under the guise of what will be promoted as an "easy and cheap" solution to voting issues.

So, sometimes a convenient and economical solution isn't the best. It's true when it comes to internet voting and it's true in business as well. I see this issue come up all the time in phone systems that send callers into never-never land. Or, offices that have no one to greet visitors. When I ran an advertising agency in Hawaii, we kept a receptionist on staff even though we could have saved significant costs by putting a phone on the reception desk and dispensing with a person. That would be cheap and easy. It would also have compromised our marketing position of being a people-oriented and caring agency.

So, technology is wonderful. I'm all for it. But it needs to be applied strategically. And with common sense.