Humility the seventh principle
Writing is not only about technique, it is also about having the right attitude. When you are guided by humility, readers will more easily relate to your writing and allow themselves to be influenced by it. Humility is a vital strategic attitude, not a nicety.
As we discussed earlier, it’s healthy to communicate about ambition as long as readers are empowered to make independent judgements and your claims can be substantiated. Unfortunately, some organisations communicate primarily by spin and a desire to defend one point of view no matter what the cost. This chapter seeks to provide an alternative to this knee-jerk reaction by discussing the principle of humility.
Though it doesn’t change your ability to write well from a technical point of view, humility is an important attitude for anyone in business and anyone writing about business. People are fed up with arrogance, spin and condescending communication, so humility has become the best way to make sure your communication will be accepted by your stakeholders. In other words: humility is an entry ticket.
What does this mean for the practice of business writing? Humility can be achieved in different ways, specifically by:
- Critically judging your writing, without regard for your ego. This means applying the previous six principles. It is easy to become attached to a beautiful sentence or paragraph, but you need to have the guts to scrap it if, after scrutiny, it is not required. This sounds easy, in practice few people are able to discard work even if, deep down, they know that their words are exaggerated or unclear.
- Evaluating your personal motives. Effective business writing creates rapport with readers. This happens when you connect to their fundamental beliefs, values and ambitions. A humble approach seeks to recognise the validity of each stakeholder’s claim. While you should consider the culture of the organisation for whom you are writing (for example hierarchical and authoritative or ad-hoc project teams), a humble approach means you respect your readers. Spin doctoring is outdated. It belongs to a time when organisations were led like the military and CEOs had a godlike status. Today, leaders need to communicate authentically, which has consequences for how they write.
- Accepting that things go wrong and not all questions can be answered. Some organisations have such a dislike of failure that their staff will re-write a negative story to make it look beautiful when most readers are aware that it isn’t. This is hypocritical and erodes the trust stakeholders have in the organisation. In a world where search engines and blogs spread news faster that your organisation can, it is safe to assume the truth will be known eventually. Face it and deal with it now.
- Leaving things as they are, without resorting to spin doctoring. This is closely related to the previous point of accepting mistakes and uncertainty, but different in that it relates more to the principle of meaning. Sometimes organisations feel the need to create much ado about nothing and fluff things up. Why does shampoo have to be a ‘sensationally cleansing morning ritual’ when it’s just soap to rinse the grease out of your hair? Technology companies like to describe their products as ‘revolutionary’, even though they are the result of incremental innovations.
- Avoiding fancy words, even if you think they make you look smarter. This has been dealt with already, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. Apart from not being understood, difficult words can make other people annoyed or just downright resentful. Leaders, in particular, should not hide behind difficult words or corporate jargon that subconsciously says ‘I am smarter than you’, or, more likely, ‘I have no clue what I am talking about’.
- Recognising dissenting opinions or unfavourable comments. Forcing a picture of unity when conflict exists – particularly when it exists visibly - erodes trust in the organisation and its communication. By seeking purpose and meaning on both sides and connecting them in a text, leaders can engage all stakeholders in a productive and genuine way.
None of this means that business writing cannot make ambitious claims. Neither does it mean that business writing cannot be eloquent or entertaining, nor that you aren’t allowed to write passionately. What it does mean is that business writing is much better if ambition is underpinned by realism, self-criticism and respect for the views of all stakeholders. Humility allows companies to express their vision and expertise in a genuine way that builds trust and reputation with the reader.
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