The Value of the Metaphor

Business, scientific, and technical writers tend to dismiss metaphorical language as creative writing and fluff. That dismissal is unfortunate, and hypocritical! Think of the world without the Internet when when used "worm" and "bug" in reference to critters, when we used "virus" and "viral" in reference to medical conditions.

Dr. Marlene Carosselli studied language use in The Language of Leadership (1990, pp. 78-79). She discovered that leaders in industry, corporations, politics, religion--all formulate comparisons between what people already know and what the leader wants them to understand. Common associations through similes, metaphors, and analogies create the comfort required for people to accept new possibilities, risks, and visions. To anchor a new (or what is new to the receiver) concept to an old (or what is familiar to the receiver) image is a technique that is underused in our fast-paced technological society. Things are changing and evolving with each day. It is easy to fear all the change.

More writers could benefit from the mindset of the leaders she studied. It is especially useful for scientists and engineers to know how to explain concepts from their industries in comfortable, familiar language for the business decision-makers, stakeholders, and consumers.

I listened to a National Geographic documentary last week on television. Deep sea explorations require divers to understand the "bends." For a layperson, this is the condition of gases building up in the blood during a too-rapid acsent, like a shaken liter of soda that swells, boils, and erupts when its cap is removed too quickly. The image of the carbonation exploding out of the bottle is similar to what happens to a diver's blood when the diver moves too fast from a high-pressured depth to the surface of the water. The blood and the body need a slow adjustment of pressure and that requires a slow ascention.

In the introduction to Neurobiology, Gordon M. Shepherd, M.D., Ph.D.,of Yale University writes, "One of the ways in which principles are useful is that they force us to define the elementary units, the basic building blocks, of a field of knowledge" (p. 4). He continues to say that neurobiology gives us the "tools" to "weld [those principles] into a coherent framework" (p. 8, 3rd ed.) to help us understand what it means to be human.

Biology is not the only field that can use metaphors effectively. In sociology, economics, and civics, Martin Luther King, Jr., was able to associate civil rights with a bank account. In his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28,1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, MLK said: "...In a sense we've come to our nation's capitol to cash a check.When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.... Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.' But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation...."

Metaphors help us understand faster and remember longer. Try them in your leadership communications. As fast as technology changes (and society in response to it), we need the comfort of familiar associations for the unknown to become less fearsome and for us to become less fearful of what we do not know, understand, or imagine. We will be more likely to hire, buy, and consume when our fear is eliminated and our comfort is reinforced.

Top 12 Grammar Errors

Grammar can be defined as "syntax and morphology" in a language. That simply means "how the language users put words together to create meaning." My college students challenged me to give them a list of the top grammar errors to avoid in composition classes and research reports. The list below serves that challenge. It is a list that can serve business writers well in their emails to avoid miscommunication, misinformation, and misunderstanding.

#1-3 Verbs: tense shift, irregular verbs' past participle forms, and subject-verb agreement (number)

#4-6 Pronouns: point-of-view shift, wrong case, and vague reference

#7-9 Sentence Structure: fragment, run-on or comma splice (punctuation problems), and confusing modifiers

#10-12 Usage Errors: diction (right meaning, wrong form), homonyms, and formality

William Strunk and E.B. White's Elements of Style is a superb resource for good writing. The book is condensed with sound rationale and examples for easy reading and simple instructions. In addition to the grammar errors to avoid above, consider using flow factors (transitions, appropriate voice, and parallelism) to improve your own writing and to assist your reader's comprehension.

Need To

This week I read a card positioned on the receptionist's desk at one of the "100 Best Places to Work." The card showed the smiling face of a caucasian male who had a freshly shaven face and a slightly graying head of hair. The man wore a blue Oxford button-down collared shirt, accessorized with a burgundy patterned tie in a Winsor knot. (The visual made me wonder about diversity in this corporation. I remember a friend with a minority ethnic background telling me that omissions are as powerful as testimonials. I wondered if the omission of people of color and people with gender and generation diversity was merely ignorance in the marketing and HR departments, and/or if homogeneity was the norm at this establishment.)

The card said: "MOVING YOU FORWARD." The card continued: "Thank you for expressing an interest in employment opportunities at ____." In this economy and marketplace, it is warming to think an employer cares about the potential job applicant.

The card's next text gave a directive: "To formally consider you for a position, we need you to apply using our online recruitment system." Where I got bogged down was "we need you to." Why not say "please," a pleasantry instead of the wordiness and "bossiness" of the chosen words? So, the visual on the card and the directive are consistent, and together they overpower the warmth of the heading and the first line. Too bad. That lack of consistency in tone suggests a lack of cohesion, often experienced as a lack of sincerity. If the applicant does not "fit in," the person has no value to this corporation. Those who "fit in" will certainly be of like minds (skins and bodies?) and ratings on surveys of their employer: one of 100 "best." After electronically submitting "your resume, cover letter and transcript," the card said, "We appreciate your interest in pursuing a career at ____."

I have found the expression "need to" is camoflage for "do it or suffer the consequences." On the surface, it appears to be a power-play. I witnessed the impact of those words on inmates in a state men's prison years ago when I was a criminology student. The guards said to any prisoner they selected, "You need to stand with your feet apart,...." Years later, I taught Distance Parenting Skills to incarcerated mothers in another state's institution. The guards used the same language with visitors and inmates, "You need to...." I have also heard teachers in an inner-city school tell students what those children "need to" do. Teachers would then talk to the parents the same way! Once, I helped an employee of my son's company by providing transportation round-trip from his work-release program. He told me, "You need to take me to Wal-Mart." I explained the tone of his words and he did not fully appreciate my position. I said, "When you give me the courtesy of asking politely to do you a favor, I am glad to take you there before taking you back for the nightly check-in. Otherwise, I am not obligated to give you a ride anywhere."

Still another event caused me to experience the underside of those words that made me pause and reflect. As a single parent in total frustration to the Nth degree one time, I told my own children, "I need you to mind me right now!" Ah-ha! "need to" is not only a power-play in words, it is a plea for compliance! Behind the words "need to" is insecurity and desperation. Guards may be scared of inmates and adults may be scared of children! If the receiver of "need to" does not "do it," the sender of the words may have to "suffer the consequences."
Hm, perhaps some employers are scared of their employees. Just a thought....
Words can be revealing or misleading--so begin the conversation to make the real connections.

Forgiveness

"Forgive and forget."
"Let go and move on."
"Get over it."
Short, simple directives--all of which miss the point.

When a person faces betrayal, disappointment, or disillusionment in a close relationship, the reality is neither short nor simple. The process of becoming a functioning, trusting, loving person again is long and complicated. The myriad attempts to conquer the labrinth of pain can exhaust the most determined individual. Others who suggest platitudes and insist on graditude lists simply do not understand the secret to forgiveness. Yes, anger keeps us connected and grief keeps us hurting. Yes, forgiving another person for what that person did or may have done can release us from the paralysis of the wound. Yet, let's not move there too quickly! That is the second layer of forgiveness, not the first. The inflicted person must forgive the inflicted person! One must forgive one's self for being trusting, gullible, or idealistic enough to have been fooled by the other person's intent or duped by one's own idea of perfection or righteousness. Once a person comes to terms with the doomed relationship, the wounded person can begin healing. To heal, the person must breathe and move through the days and years to reclaim one's own life and to resurrect one's own self. Scabs and scars are part of that process. It may take as long to heal as the relationship took to form. That is reality. Our faith in truth and trust will endure and assure the success of the process.

Contemplating "Easy"

Planning a strategy: "Let's do that: it's easy."
Planning a college schedule: "Sign up for easy teachers."
Enrolling in distance learning: "The on-line procedure is easy."
Commenting on character: "His date was easy."
Commenting on a therapist: "Talking with her is easy."
Commenting on an assessment: "The test was easy; I knew all the answers."

"Easy" is a four-letter word with significant meanings, inferences, and interprtations. "Easy" was listed as one of the most influential, persuasive words in the American English language in a Yale University study. "Easy" is often confused with "simple," yet what is simple is not necessarily easy. My teaching has been called "easy" and my courses have been called "easy."

I have read the comments my college students wrote about my teaching on a professor-rating website . The scores of the day are 4.8/5.0 for quality and 4.5/5.0 for easiness. Not bad. I am not complaining. Actually, I am humbled with such affirming evaluation. The quality score represents the standards I expect while the easiness score represents my philosophy of teaching and learning.

Here's the deal: good teaching offers multiple experiences for students to learn readily. Good teaching requires hard preparation and comfortable delivery. Good learning is easy when it finally happens, yet to get to the easy part, the learning adventure may take the student through multiple experiences--some of which are frustrating and hard. Each experience is an opportunity to learn if the student is ready and able. Individualization, personalization, and collaboration blended with lots of encouragement and empathy create the environment for learning. Our lives intersect and coincide, and life sometimes "gets in the way" of the syllabus. Fortunately, lots of laughter comes our way, too.

I do my best to remove obstacles and power plays from my courses. I use target dates rather than deadlines to keep us on track and on schedule without penalties. I incorporate a "catch-up" day each semester and "transition summaries" between training dates. Reflection moments and stretch breaks allow numb brains to receive, retain, and retrieve information and transform it into learning. (Researchers tell us sleeping well overnight after a potential learning experience will anchor the learning in our memory.) I encourage students to obtain peer reviews of their work, to repeat a given assignment to their own satisfaction, and then to submit the work for my feedback and consultation. (Peer teaching has been shown to be a significant learning technique for all the students involved.) Once the student achieves the "C average" or "satisfactory" level of performance in a skill or completion of a task, as determined by the college or corporation,the student may elect to pursue mastery voluntarily in another experience with the same assignment. Being part of that pursuit is exciting. My experience has shown that most adults want to achieve excellence once they watch their skill level rise above their former self-assessment. Their self-esteem also rises, and their possiblities broaden and deepen.

I am proud to be a "good" teacher--a "good and easy" teacher. I am pleased to assist students in their learning adventures in my college classrooms and corporate training rooms. My students inspire this life-long teacher to be a life-long learner as well. Make life and learning easy for yourself today: give yourself another chance to achieve the goal you have not attained yet. Clarify the standards for performance, get guidance and encouragement, remove the obstacles, and pursue your own excellence! It is easier than you think.

The Word-Mimic

My granddaughter is a word-mimic. Most children are, of course, as they absorb and internalize language skills.
One day she attended a board meeting for a non-profit association with me. As the finance director, I had a report to give and I planned to do it quickly and excuse myself. Grandma was on duty today while the parents worked because child-care arrangements changed at the last minute. It happens. We arrived with crayons, paper, and books to pacify my three-year-old for 10 to 15 minutes. The board spent the first three minutes attending to Addie--cute, adorable, smart, precious Addie. Then, down to business: the new president changed the agenda items' sequence for reports.
After almost an hour of entertaining herself on the cold, tile floor of the conference room Addie said she had to go to the bathroom. I excused us and we went across the hall. A few minutes later, we returned to wait my turn and endure more discussion items. After 12 more minutes, Addie said she needed to go again. I took hold of her hand again and off we went across the hall. We entered the restroom, she turned to look at me and said, "I done now, Gramma." Having been a parent, I know this can happen with a child recently potty-trained. Back to the conference room. Four minutes later: "Gramma, I poopy."
I took a deep breath as my colleagues muffled their giggles, took her hand again, and escorted her to the restroom. Just inside the open door, she announced, "I done now." This was not fun or funny now. I marched her back to the conference room, asked to give my report out of order, and ushered her out to the car. As I buckled her in the carseat, I gave her a piece of my mind and some choice words: "Dammit, Addie, don't tell me you have to use the bathroom when you don't. I know the meeting was too long. I wanted it over, too, but I was not in charge. I am not happy. When we get home we will talk about this some more." She held her reserve and paced her words carefully, "Gramma, I dammit, too!"
Hearing those words startled me into realizing how our words in anger and frustration infiltrate our relationships. Tranferring that realization to the workplace suggests that when the powers that be dictate without regard to the employees' needs rather than collaborate and encourage in non-emergency situations, we may find the subordinates exercising their personal power in disengagement, absenteeism, or sabotage. Addie is smart! She will be a formidable negotiator.

Accountability

Recently, several organizations have had difficulty with their management and employees. As I observed a church staff, a charter school administration, and new corporate middle managers, I discover that accountability is a huge issue for all of them. Some employees had authority to coincide with their responsibility. They had an easier time acheiving accountability than those who had responsibility and little to no authority in crazy-making, no-win situations. My observations led me to understand that accountability issues disguise trust and truth issues, and without trust and truth, the workplace beomes non-nurturing at the best and hostile at the worst. Teamwork, productivity, performance, and morale become casualties of a workplace where accountability is overlooked or undermined. Gossip, lying, and blame fuel distrust and negativity. In the church scenario, lies and unfounded accusations caused the pastor's dismissal by misled lay leaders. In the charter school scenario, the director was made a scapegoat for the executive director's poor judgment and the board of directors' ineptitude. In the corporate scenario, the middle managers continue to flounder in unclear expectations and inadequate support.

If negativity, distrust, and poor achievement show up in your organization, look to your systems for accountability or the lack of it. Personal responsibility, positional authority, and professional accountability measure the health of an organization. How healthy is yours?