If you read it the way I intend you to, you’ll enjoy the sarcasm and irony in that statement/headline. You see, the written word – whether it shows up on parchment or laptop or phone – is subject to forces beyond the writer’s control.

These include, but aren’t limited to, perception, preconcieved ideas, personal bias and current state of mind. That’s why so many business professionals try to use the phone or face-to-face meetings when clarity is critical.

Unfortunately, writing is far more expedient in some cases for sharing thoughts with a global audience or for just clearing your metaphorical throat. It’s in these cases that writers should use the novelist’s trick of setting aside a tome for at least one night before submitting it.

In this, I failed recently. I spent some time typing out my thoughts – in diary or journal style – and then published them instead of editing or sitting on them.

I won’t give details, but the stuff I wrote could have been clearer and my tone could have been softer. For a communications pro who prides himself on knowing how an audience will respond to a message, this was a #fail.

It was also a fail in terms of personal relationships. So, my words of warning to anyone who might want to share their personal feelings in public…think about the public you’re sharing with and how they might respond to your words.

As another genius once said, “Not everything that can be counted, counts. And not everything that counts can be counted.”

Have you ever sent an email or wrote a blog post you wanted back?

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: genius, miscommunication, sarcasm, social media

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