Steps to Success

Many people cover a mistake in instruction they have given, by saying “I did not mean that. “ To such people there is only one answer: “In future, please Say what you Mean, and Mean what you Say.”
The story is told that U.S. ex-President Wilson, when he was a boy, used to read to his father whatever he wrote. Often his father would ask, “What do you mean by that?” The boy would explain. “Then write it!”, was the advice. In giving instructions, it is not enough to use language that may be understood; make sure that it will be.
Another useful point in giving written instructions is to be brief. Lengthy instructions often confuse. It is not how many words you use, but how well you use them, that matters. The other day a colleague showed me a “Minute” he had received. He had got a headache wading through that mass of words. “Can you make any sense out of it?”, he said, handing me the Minute Form. When I gave it back, I quoted Samuel Johnson’s immortal judgment: “Witness the immense pomposity of sesquipedalian verbiage!”.
The smelling salt was not strong enough.