Keep the Craft!
“Body, Mind, Spirit. Craft, Science, Art. There’s a little of each in writing, speaking, performing. Take care that technology doesn’t submerge the craft or the art in your communication!”
— J. R. StJohn
Welcome to “Rapid World!” Tech has forever changed everything! Type no longer has to be “Set” for a publication. It’s a touch away. You can shoot a picture, text and email it, get immediate feedback, make a decision and order parts and tools before your battery runs down — all on your in-car Wi-Fi. Hey time’s a wastin! Let’s get ‘er done!
Yet… Email has eliminated the Thoughtful Memo and the “Position Paper.” Texting has eliminated the love note and the letter. A “Letter” is no longer “Written.” Now, you simply “keyboard” away and your thoughts are on their way before they “gel…” Many tech blessings turn out to have a “down” side, given the increasingly limited time from beginning to end-of-cycle.
Remember Craftsmanship? That sense that you were working with an experienced professional, who would take the required time to really understand the job, plan it out, obtain the best materials, work through the process with painstaking care, and ultimately clean up and finish, then present you with a bill? Gone. Mostly you get people in a hurry, with one eye on their screens, itching to depart for the next engagement. Spelling, grammar and pnc2ashn be damned… Check your kids for evidence…
Net? Maybe the big advantage of “Rapid World” is that we can do, build, write, cook, and create lots of bad stuff really fast! We gain time, but a degree of substance has leached away…
Don’t let the Craftsmanship disappear from your communication! We’ve seen many clients misuse “Ready, Set, Go!®” to compose quickly, deliver without preparation and run.
The benefit of a swift composition discipline is inarguable; but getting it composed quickly isn’t the point. The real benefit of rapid composition is that the remaining time allotted can now be spent on refinement and polish.
If you complete the reasoning and composition and arrive at the conclusion quickly, you can add time to working out the delivery, to polishing transitions, to building the support package and verifying the set-up. And you can practice, giving it time to settle so you truly own it before the stand-and-deliver moment. That added time gives you certainty and gravitas at the podium.
Go ahead! Compose it quickly; but keep reaching for the Craft!
Applications
1. Personally
It’s a meeting, a public discussion, a PTA gathering, a talk at Starbucks… Whatever the occasion, we suggest a great mental discipline is ““Ready, Set, Go!®” (Think!) Then Speak!” Even if you give yourself an added ten seconds, you may be able to stave off an unhappy misstatement, or a blurt which leaves you embarrassed and less confident.
2. At Home
How many times have you regretted speaking without benefit of an extra ten seconds to consider the possible outcomes? There’s an undeniable rush to rightness in family talks. Heat, competition, the jousting, and the pride… That’s how we end up with those difficult after-the-remark silences, with people slinking off to their retreats in anger. If there’s anywhere that we can all learn and benefit from the “think before you speak” discipline, it’s at home. Demonstrate it and teach it to everyone’s benefit. You’ll be respected for it!
3. At Work
Deliberation is a major leadership attribute! You don’t always have to speak first! But you should have yourself (and your argument) together, and you should consider the next few moves before opening your mouth. Consider that the pause before speaking is not only dramatic, but it gives you the added time to think, which can move the decision in your favor.
Composition is done. Still to come is setting up delivery, and the ultimate question, “Do the words and package honestly serve the lofty purpose which demanded a presentation in the first place?”
Enjoy “Rapid World!” Go Fast! But keep reaching for Craftsmanship!!
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