CHAPTER 29
Let Them See How You Think
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
Writing can be a tough task master. Unlike in a meeting or hallway discussion, you can’t mumble through the process. Writing demands research, analysis, creativity, and organization. Writing forces you to think—that is, unless you plan to write drivel. And most of us recognize drivel when we see it. Also, unlike spoken words that gradually fade in everyone’s memory, a document may last forever in the files.
As you write strategic documents for executive readers, consider these six mind games.
IMAGINE YOURSELF SEEKING CAPITAL FROM A ROOMFUL OF VENTURE CAPITALISTS
Gaining acceptance for the recommendation you’re proposing is rarely a slam dunk. If you feel passionate about the idea, it may be difficult to see downsides or dangers that could derail your success. But eventually, you’ll need to roll out enough details so that you or others can implement the idea, project, process, product, or service. Imagine yourself in a conference room surrounded by VCs. What questions will they ask you before investing? Fill in the missing gaps to give a clear, complete, accurate picture.
SIT FOR A FINAL EXAM WITH YOUR VIRTUAL “BOARD”
To complete a master’s degree or PhD program, students face a group of professors while being grilled about everything they’ve read during the previous two to four years of their study program. Most students report that the experience is grueling. The questions force them to consider all their past reading and to analyze all the divergent ideas, compare and contrast them, summarize them, and apply them in new ways to current situations.
To improve your thinking on your new idea, simulate that experience. Invite three colleagues to get on a conference call with you. Give them a three-minute briefing on your idea (as applicable, include the what, why, when, how, who, and how much).
Then open the floor ten minutes for questions from your colleagues. What else do they need to know before “approving,” “sponsoring,” “implementing,” or “recommending” the idea to others? Don’t actually answer their questions; just record them. This board exercise will demonstrate what you may have missed in your own first analysis of the idea: Did you leave out important information? Did they connect the proverbial dots in the overview you communicated to them? Did they get sidetracked by nonessential information and miss your key points?
Complete this virtual exercise; then write your document to address their questions and issues. Granted, analytical thinking is hard work, but facing a virtual “board of buddies” can be far less brutal than trying to implement a half-baked idea, project, or policy.
WAIT FOR THE STARTING GUN TO DRAFT
After you discover what information needs to be included, what questions need to be answered, what objections or concerns need to be addressed, you still may not be ready to draft.
In sports, athletes get penalized for false starts. Writers also sometimes start too early. I admire people who “get a jump” on tasks and settle down to a project before a deadline looms. But writing involves more than putting words on the screen or paper. In fact, the toughest part of writing is thinking. When your thinking has been insufficient, and you draft too early, what often drips from your fingertips is drivel.
AVOID THE “SO WHAT?” GRIMACE
Whether you’re writing an email, a proposal, or a report, the document should never leave the reader thinking, “So what? Why did you tell me this? What do you want me to do?” The next action should be clear. Even the most popular social media posts include a call-to-action: “Look at this video.” “Listen to this interview.” “Read this article.” “Take this quiz.” “Visit my website.” “Attend my webinar.” Make sure your document answers the reader’s “So what?”
THINK LEAN
Some writers tend to include everything related to the subject that anyone on their distribution list might need or want to know in this lifetime. In doing so, they bury key ideas under the rubble, and primary readers become irritated at the “irrelevant” hodge-podge.
Never do a brain dump. Instead, organize your information for the most important readers. Then for secondary readers (for example, readers on your “cc” list), you have four options:
• Layer the less important information in the detail section of the document under appropriate headings for easy skimming.
• Include the less important details in an attachment.
• Put supplemental details in footnotes or endnotes.
• Provide a source or link to additional information.
Again, your document should not reflect everything you know about a subject. It should reflect everything you think significant to make a decision or take action.
BE “OTHER-FOCUSED,” NOT SELF-CONSCIOUS
Consider the following excerpt from the marketing department of a client organization:
Our department is currently preparing our pre-launch campaign for our route drivers and will be bringing them into headquarters during the next two weeks to give them a preview of our next year’s marketing plans. In doing so, we noticed that we do not have collateral materials and pricing on your division’s product lines. We need those from you within the next five days so that . . .
Do you notice that everything in this statement is focused on the writer’s needs? OUR department. OUR pre-launch campaign. OUR route drivers. OUR next year’s marketing plans. WE noticed that WE do not have . . .WE need those. Frankly, readers don’t care about you, the writer. They care about themselves and what THEY want and need.
Revolutionize the response to your writing by analyzing and focusing on what’s of interest to your readers rather than yourself. For example, here’s a redo of the previous appeal:
Don’t be left out of the pre-launch marketing campaign when the route drivers visit headquarters during the next two weeks. Get your marketing collateral materials and pricing on all your product lines to us within the next five days to ensure that your division will be included in the lineup. Our route drivers will be hearing a preview of next year’s marketing plans, including plans on your unit’s product lines!
See the strategic difference in the appeal between these two versions?
Having information available tempts productive people to pump out words quickly. As the workplace presents fewer and fewer occasions to talk face to face and on the phone, your texts, emails, posts, and reports reflect—and document forever—your thinking. It pays to think strategically on paper or online.