Swimming in Templates
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch,
You must first invent the universe.”
— Carl Sagan
There’s an arrogant, self-regard among many in the sales business…
Probably a good thing though, cause if you weren’t a little over-confidant, you probably wouldn’t have the *&%# to go into an office, walk down the hallway and knock. Arrogance conquers fear, apparently. Well, that’s the good news. The bad news however, is that people with such self-confidence are often unwilling to resort to something so pedestrian as a communication template — or to accepted and established standards of effectiveness.
We hear this often, “That’s unacceptable. I create my meetings and my phone calls off the cuff, instantly in each moment! I don’t rely on an elementary tool for structuring my remarks, and I absolutely don’t repeat myself. Never! Never!”
It’s a tough job, creating the universe again (from scratch) with each sales meeting.
As the significance (such as it was…) of those remarks settled in, we began to contemplate just how many daily activities and cultural mainstays can fit into the category “Cultural Template.” For those of you who eschew something so low as a standardized way of attacking a physical or intellectual challenge, we’ve done some research.
Herewith, a few examples:
(Each of these solves the problem of having to Invent the Category in answer to a challenge.)
Traffic Lights
The Pop Song Structure
The Butterick Pattern
The Deck of Playing Cards
The Blues Idiom
Currency
A Bar of Soap
The Jell-O Mold
The Cookbook
A Blueprint
The Play in 3, 4, or 5 Acts
(Or An Agony in 8 Fits… With appreciation to Lewis Carroll.)
The Spreadsheet
A Box or Bottle of Detergent
The Loaf of Bread (Baguette or Pre-sliced)
The Waltz, The March, The Hymn
The Measuring Tape, The Inch, The Centimeter
The “First Down” Chain
The Rules of Bridge
Pencils / Pens
The Rules of the Road
The Hamburger
The Rules of Argument or Debate
The Laws of Physics
Weddings, Funerals, Coming of Age Rituals
The Standard Meal: The Salad, The Main Course, the Dessert
Keys
The Short Story, The Novel
Mechanical Jigs
Figure Skating
The Rules of Soccer
The Design of a Sports Stadium or Skyscraper
Keyboards: Type and Musical
The Design of an Automobile
The Olympics
The Placement of a light switch, or the switch itself
Shall we go on?
As it turns out, we invent very few things from scratch, because it’s so much easier to start with a template, a recipe, a formula, a pattern or a jig. (Inventing the universe is a lot of work, and it probably won’t be done in time for your presentation on Thursday.)
So, even if you write all your music and entertainment from scratch, save a little time and start composing your meetings, presentations, and white papers with “Ready, Set, Go!®”
Applications
1. For You
The number of forms and templates in daily life boggles the mind. So before you get all upset about learning to build your argument around an intellectual scaffold, stop and give thanks that someone took the time to develop a format. That means you can confine yourself to the argument at hand, the delivery and the follow-up!
2. At Home
If you teach the kids about templates, they will have a head start on everyone else. As a child, you often find yourself faced with inventing the universe before doing a term paper, learning to dance or doing an equation. If you know (courtesy of your very insightful parents) that there is usually a template, a pattern, or a rule of thumb involved in a mathematical proof, a construction project, or an argument, you can get on with the work.
Few things in life require re-inventing the universe. Let’s take the burden off the backs of our children.
3. At Work
Not only does reliance on a pre-existing pattern save tons of individual work, but it can make things go faster for an entire corporation by leaving the invention of the art of sales, marketing and management to those who’ve already done it! Why re-invent the brochure? Why re-invent the sales cycle. Just get on with making your story unique and getting it across the same way in all media. That would be enough, no??
What shall we do before dinner? Create the universe, or enjoy a glass of wine and a moment on the patio? Up to you!
Dessert:
The Hunting of the Snark
(An Agony in Eight Fits)
The beauty of Lewis Carroll’s wit and intellect was demonstrated in his invention of a literary template – “the Agony and the Fits,” and that his invention so curiously (and obviously) mirrored a poem and stanzas.
The Hunting of the Snark at The Poetry Foundation
The Hunting of the Snark at Wikipedia
Subscribe to our Newsletter
