Right Attitudes

Ideas for Impact

Nagesh Belludi

Stephen King’s Tips for Writing Better

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Here are tips on writing from the celebrated science-fiction author Stephen King’s popular book “On Writing–A Memoir of the Craft.” The first third of this book is a short memoir of the prolific author and the second section, the namesake “On Writing,” is unadulterated inspiration for serious authors and anybody with an inclination to improve their written communication skills.

  • Get to the point. Do not waste your reader’s time with too much back-story, long intros or longer anecdotes about your life. Reduce the noise.
  • 'On Writing--A Memoir of the Craft' by Stephen King (ISBN 1413818720) Write a draft. Then let it rest. King recommends that you crank out a first draft and then put it in your drawer to let it rest. This enables you to get out of the mindset you had when you wrote the draft and get a more detached and clear perspective on the text.
  • Cut down your text. When you revisit your text, it is time to kill your darlings and remove all the superfluous words and sentences. Removing will de-clutter your text and often get your message through with more clarity and a bigger emotional punch.
  • Be relatable and honest. One of the keys to doing that is to have an honest voice and honest characters with both bad and good sides to them. People we can relate to with all of their faults, passions, fears, weaknesses and good moments. Another key to being honest and relatable is keeping a conversational style.
  • Write a lot. To become a better writer you probably—and not so surprisingly – need to write more.

Communication is all about the audience: it is about directing the audience to identify with your point of view and comprehend the precise message you want to convey. The writing tips in Stephen King’s “On Writing” will help you focus on your message—be it in a speech, a blog post, an essay, or an email.

To echo the ideas summarized above, read my earlier blog article about beginning with the end: the most effective start to the communication process is to begin at the end and enumerate the outcome. List the conclusions the audience should draw from your effort. Setting a goal for your communication helps you collect and present ideas logically.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. The More You Write, The Better You Become
  2. Most Writing Is Bad Because It Doesn’t Know Why It Exists
  3. Persuade Others to See Things Your Way: Use Aristotle’s Ethos, Logos, Pathos, and Timing
  4. The Rule of Three
  5. Don’t Say “Yes” When You Really Want to Say “No”

Inspirational Quotations #191

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The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow.
—H. G. Wells (British Novelist)

A leader is someone who creates infectious enthusiasm.
—Ted Turner (American Businessperson)

Remember Yesterday
Dream of Tomorrow
But Live for Today.
—Anonymous

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
—Helen Keller (American Author)

Remember yesterday, dream of tomorrow, but live for today.
—Anonymous

Chance is always powerful. – Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (Roman Poet)

Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
—Vince Lombardi (American Sportsperson)

May you live all the days of your life.
—Irish Blessing

Pain is only weakness leaving your body, so don’t give up because it hurts keep going cause it makes you stonger.
—Unknown

There is no off position on the genius switch.
—David Letterman (American TV Personality)

Mentoring: The Best Advice You Can Offer

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A newer employee recently approached you for advice on a particularly thorny personal problem she was facing at work. She had an idea for tackling her problem. You had discouraged her idea citing a couple of reasons and offered your own idea as the best solution to her problem. “Advice from years of experience,” you had added. She had nodded her head in agreement.

A couple of weeks later, you discover that she had disregarded your advice and pursued her original idea. You are now annoyed at her and grumble: “Such a waste of my time! Why do people come to me for advice when they don’t intend to pay attention to my ideas? Nobody seems to respect words of wisdom anymore.”

Does the above experience sound familiar? Aren’t we often all-too-eager to offer others advice?

In the above narrative, the newer employee may not have wanted to take the suggested approach—she followed her own idea to manage her problem. Herein is one fundamental reality about offering advice: people rarely listen to others’ advice if they see a contradiction in their advice. In other words, the best advice you can offer others is the advice that they come up with themselves.

Mary Kay Ash on the Art of Listening

Mary Kay Ash, American entrepreneur and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics discusses the art of listening in her book ‘People Management.’

Some of the most successful people-managers are also the best listeners.

[One manager] had been hired by a large corporation to assume the role of sales manager. But he knew absolutely nothing about the specifics of the business. When salespeople would go to him for answers, there wasn’t anything he could tell them–because he didn’t know anything! Nonetheless, this man really knew how to listen. So no matter what they would ask him, he’d answer, “What do you think you ought to do?” They’d come up with a solution; he’d agree; and they’d leave satisfied. They thought he was fantastic. He taught me this valuable listening technique, and I have been applying it ever since.

Many of the problems I hear don’t require me to offer solutions. I solve most of them by just listening and letting the grieving party do the talking. If I listen long enough, the person will generally come up with an adequate solution.

Call for Action

When a person approaches you for advice, he/she may have some faint idea to tackle the problem at hand.

Or, the person has already developed an idea. He/she would like you to serve as a ‘sounding-board’ for the idea–to reinforce the idea and confirm that this approach is appropriate.

After listening attentively to the person’s thoughts, ask “What do you think you ought to do?” Skilfully, lead the thought-process and encourage him/her to develop the solution. With this buy-in, the person will more likely follow your—really, his/her own—advice.

Wondering what to read next?

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  2. How Small Talk in Italy Changed My Perspective on Talking to Strangers
  3. How to … Gracefully Exit a Conversation at a Party
  4. Stop asking, “What do you do for a living?”
  5. Unreliable Narrators Make a Story Sounds Too Neat

Inspirational Quotations #190

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No matter how much it has done for your mind,
your education has been a failure if it has failed to open your heart.
— Francis de Sales

What we all tend to complain about most in other people
are those things we don’t like about ourselves.
— William Wharton

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
— Muriel Strode

Love is not a feeling, it is a decision—to do the very best we can for the other person.
— Unknown

No man…can be a genius;
but all men have a genius,
to be served or disobeyed at their own peril.
— Ananda Coomaraswamy

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has
power to move you, if the simple things of nature have
a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive…
— Eleonora Duse

May there always be a smile on your face and laughter in your heart.
— Unknown

Deeds, not words shall speak me.
— John Fletcher

The aim of life is to live,
and to live means to be aware,
joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.
— Henry Miller

Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts
and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.
— James Lane Allen

Interviewing Skills #4: Avoid too many ‘I-I-I’ or ‘We-We-We’ answers

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A job candidate that I once interviewed claimed credit for a new customer-service strategy across her company. Following the interview, in speaking with her references, I discovered that the candidate was responsible just for implementation of a corporate-wide initiative only in her particular facility. She had done this job exceedingly well; however, the initiative was not her idea, nor was the new IT-system installed to support this initiative, as she had claimed. Further, her work was restricted to her location only. Clearly, the candidate had overstated her achievements. She had likely used too many ‘I-I-I’ answers.

One of the persistent problems with the job interview process is that candidates tend to exaggerate their achievements in their résumés and in interview discussions. Interviewing is, therefore, one of the toughest managerial-tasks: in the 30-or-45 minutes of a face-to-face interview or a telephone interview, it is very difficult to identify specifics of a candidate’s achievements and place them in a border context. A job candidate can easily distinguish himself or herself by helping the interviewer with this challenge.

Avoid Too Many ‘I-I-I’ Answers

In the modern organisation, a lot of work, and consequently, success, is a function of circumstances—of opportunities available and teamwork. Success is often about being in the right place, at a right time, with the right people and doing what is right.

When interviewing, distinguish yourself by clearly demonstrating an understanding of the role of respective contexts in your projects and their successes. Justify your achievements while acknowledging others’ contributions. Use constructs such as “the marketing manager had this great idea. I teamed-up with him, conceptualised the idea and executed the new initiatives in my engineering organisation.”

Too many ‘We-We-We’ Answers are Bad Too

On the other hand, interviewers from specific backgrounds tend to use too many we-answers. Cultural upbringing may encourage these candidates to display humility, be modest in discussing achievements and consequently avoid I-answers where possible.

I can think about numerous instances when I have requested interviewees to stop using we-answers and describe achievements specifically in terms of what the candidate did–by using the I-answers.

Balance is Key

Acknowledging the circumstances and clarifying context of successes helps interviewers develop a broader perspective of your achievements and understand your credentials easily. By carefully balancing the I-answers with we-answers, you can

  • demonstrate humility and respect for the contributions of team members
  • establish the bounds of your contributions and claim credit you deserve for your achievements.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Job Interviewing #2: Interviewing with a Competitor of your Current Employer
  2. Interviewing Skills #3: Avoid Second-Person Answers
  3. Compilation of Job Interview Questions
  4. Competency Modeling: How to Hire and Promote the Best
  5. Say It Straight: Why Clarity Beats Precision in Everyday Conversation

Interviewing Skills #3: Avoid Second-Person Answers

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Consider the interview-question “Tell me about a time when you were criticized. How did you react?”

Or, a poorly-worded equivalent: “How do you handle criticism?”

In response to such questions, job-candidates frequently answer in the second-person: “When you are criticized, you need to … Instead of getting defensive, you must listen and understand the significance … Ask how you can improve ….”

Narrative Styles in Communication

Best Answers use the First-Person

In answering interview questions, the best way to impress an interviewer is to relay your credentials and accomplishments in terms of personal success stories—first-person answers alone achieve this effect. Use constructs such as “I did this …,” “my team discovered that …,” and so on.

Answering questions in the second-person amounts to advising the interviewer–that can be a turn-off.

And, by using the second-person, you sound disconnected from the topic of your answer; you cannot relay a personal experience that provides clues to the specific skills the interviewer is looking for in asking a particular question.

In interviews, use first-person answers exclusively: present lots of ‘I’ answers and the occasional ‘we’ answer. Do not answer in the second-person.

Further Reading: The ‘Point of view’ page on Wikipedia offers details on the narrative first-, second- and third-person styles.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Job Interviewing #2: Interviewing with a Competitor of your Current Employer
  2. Interviewing Skills #4: Avoid too many ‘I-I-I’ or ‘We-We-We’ answers
  3. Emotional Intelligence Is Overrated: The Problem With Measuring Concepts Such as Emotion and Intelligence
  4. Competency Modeling: How to Hire and Promote the Best
  5. Say It Straight: Why Clarity Beats Precision in Everyday Conversation

Inspirational Quotations #189

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Every time I close the door on reality, it comes in through the windows.
—Jennifer Yane

It’s when you run away that you’re most liable to stumble.
—Casey Robinson (American Film Producer)

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.
—German Proverb

Pain is only weakness leaving your body, so don’t give up because it hurts keep going cause it makes you stonger.
—Unknown

Some people make the day brighter just by being in it.
—Mary Dawson Hughes

In every person who comes near you, look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.
—John Ruskin (English Art Critic)

If your dog plays checkers with you, don’t criticize his game, just be glad he plays the game at all.
—Unknown

How to Examine a Process and Ask the Right Questions

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Method Study and Critical Examination

Method study is a practice of examining methods of doing work: work-flows, processes, etc. The key component of method study is ‘critical examination.’ Author Michael Armstrong describes critical examination in his ‘Handbook of Management Techniques.’

Critical examination uses the questioning approach to find out what, how, when, where and, most importantly, why and activity is carried out, and who does it. From this analysis, two fundamental questions are posed: (1) Does the activity need to be done at all? If so, (2) Are there any better ways of doing it?

The questioning approach for critical examination is described in the following chart. This chart is also available as a hand-out (PDF download) for quick reference.

Questioning Approach Critical Examination

Call for Action

A great degree of professional work–in engineering, management, finances, and other functions of the modern corporation–involves analysis of products, procedures and systems. Here, thought-processes involve asking, and seeking answers to, a series of questions.

In my role as an engineer and manager, I carry the above chart of questions to meetings and brainstorming sessions. The chart helps me ask the right questions on the intent of a process or system and gain a big-picture perspective for my work or task at hand.

Download the critical examination handout, post it at your cubicle and refer to the chart for help on asking the right questions.

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  2. What the Rise of AI Demands: Teaching the Thinking That Thinks About Thinking
  3. Good Questions Encourage Creative Thinking
  4. Howard Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future // Books in Brief
  5. Build, Then Optimize

Inspirational Quotations #188

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It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
—John Wooden (American Sportsperson)

It is not enough to succeed, others must fail.
—Gore Vidal (American Novelist)

If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.
—Vincent van Gogh (Dutch Painter)

Habit is thus the enormous flywheel of society, its most precious conservative agent. It alone is what keeps us all within the bounds of ordinance, and saves the children of fortune from the envious uprisings of the poor.
—William James (American Philosopher)

There is no use going back looking for the lost opportunity; someone else has found it.
—Anonymous

One of things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.
—Dick Gregory

Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.
—Joel Hawes

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
—Unknown

The character and qualifications of the leader are reflected in the men he selects, develops and gathers around him. Show me the leader and I will know his men. Show me the men and I will know their leader. Therefore, to have loyal, efficient employees-be a loyal and efficient employer.
—Arthur W. Newcomb

Inspirational Quotations #187

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Richer is one hour of repentance and good works in this world than all of life of the world to come; and richer is one hour’s calm of spirit in the world to come than all of life of this world.
—The Talmud (Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith)

To succeed you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
—Tony Dorsett

I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others.
—Thomas Jefferson (American Head of State)

Quite often we change jobs, friends and spouses instead of ourselves.
—Akbarali H. Jetha (Indian Author)

We cannot do everything, but we must do everything we can.
—Glenn L. Pace

Habits are safer than rules; you don’t have to watch them. And you don’t have to keep them, either. They keep you.
—Frank Hall Crane

It doesn’t hurt to be optimistic, you can always cry later.
—Lucimar Santos de Lima

After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done.
—Unknown

It is possible to fail in many ways… while to succeed is possible only in one way.
—Aristotle (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

After all is said and done, more is said than done.
—U.S. Proverb

If you achieve success, you will get applause, and if you get applause, you will hear it. My advice to you concerning applause is this; enjoy it but never quite believe it.
—Robert Montgomery