Foundation

Without question, Chicago is one of the great cities of our nation and the world. During the nineteenth century, it served is an important connector between the two coasts as well as a major hub for commerce. "My kind of town" indeed. Despite that, in the city's formidable years, it was not without significant problems. In his new book, "How We Got to Now," author Steven Johnson writes of how Chicago lacked a strong foundation. Yes, it was growing and full of energy. At the same time, it did not have an adequate draining or sewage system enabling its residents to contend with human waste in a sanitary and healthy way. The result was that in the mid-nineteenth century dozens of people, adults and children, were dying every day. The lack of a foundation was keeping this metropolis from becoming great.


To combat the problem, engineers put forth an incredible plan that called for literally every building in the city to be raised so that a seamless, well-coordinated drainage/sewage system could be installed. The plan took over 30 years with each building being raised an average of ten feet high. The result was a much healthier city and one with a much stronger foundation. The success story of Chicago proved to be an excellent example to other prospective cities throughout the world. This story also serves as a dramatic reminder of how sustained greatness cannot occur without a firm foundation on which anything can or should be built or improved.


Such an observation applies to writing. No matter how creative one might be or competent in their use of words, if they do not have a firm understanding of and appreciation for the fundamentals of grammar and a good sense of how sentences should be structured, then any hope they may have of being viewed as an engaging and skilled writer will not happen. It is such a foundation that determines one's effectiveness as a writer. This is a hard-and-fast truism. This is also why writers of all levels can and do work so hard at this form of communication.

Candy

Everybody loves candy. I would say even folks who do not partake of it - and they are to be admired - like it. According to the Washington Post, over the past ten years, sales in the candy industry in the United States escalated from $25.8 billion in 2003 to nearly $34 billion in 2013. Such a figure suggests that along with the American flag, perhaps the symbol of our nation should be a sweet tooth. We seem to spend as much time "saluting" candy of all kind than we do the stars and stripes. In fact, it is surprising no one has come up with a candy bar that is red, white and blue in color. That way we could indulge our craving for sweet as well as give a nod to being patriotic all in one bite.


In any discussion of candy, one would be remiss without mentioning Halloween. Sure, people of all ages may dress up like ghosts and goblins, but those guises are really a creative way to gain access and/or pay homage to candy. This year, it is estimated that Americans will purchase $2.5 billion in candy as part of this special trick-or-treat day. That is an unbelievable statistic. It shows that people want what they want regardless of whatever fall-out or negative consequences, including obesity, bad teeth or ill-health, that may eventually result. It seems as if the candy consumers of our nation rarely see beyond the pleasure they derive from consuming any of the many tasty treats currently on the market.


Such an indulgence as candy is not all that different from poor communication habits. People tend to communicate they way they do with little regard for any blowback that may result. For example, a common trait among some is that people do not always listen to each other as well as they should. Then there are those who talk over others. And finally we have some who already have their minds made up about a particular issue or topic, so ignore any thing said about it. Much like eating candy, these represent a negative habit that does harm to those who practice them as well those with whom they interact. We need to take a hard look at our negative habits, including the ones involving candy, and begin turning these lemons into sugar-free lemonade. 

The Selfie

While I have never taken a selfie, I can see how much fun they can be. A person takes a quick self-portrait or, better yet, several friends squeeze together for a shot to capture the moment of their being in the same place at the same time. Interestingly, I have yet to see any selfie that did not have at least one smiling face in it. Given that, how bad can they be? The conventional wisdom may be that the selfie is new to our current times, but the fact is the phenomenon of the selfie has been with us for hundreds of years. Rembrandt, for example, painted over 40 self-portraits. He, of course, was just one of the many great and not-so-great artists that took the time to capture their own image and share it with others.  


Doing so via self-phone is what is new about the selfie. Other than that, the concept, according to author Steven Johnson, is about 600 years old. Imagine that. Hundreds of years of all of us passing along images of ourselves. As is the case with all forms of communication, the tools and channels at our disposal are much more sophisticated. In addition to cell phones, we have such things as Facebook and twitter to share information about ourselves with any and everyone. These, of course, go beyond mere pictures, but also give us the opportunity to share our thoughts and observations. Even if we are introverts, we are still able to interact with others without even stepping outside our homes.


One of the great things about communication is that it speaks to our ability to engage with others. At the same time, even if we do not want to or are in the mood for any back-and-forth with others, communication serves as a means by which we can still share. "Here's a picture of me." or "This is what I have been doing." or "This is how I am these days." It is all good. While the concept of the selfie may not be as comprehensive or even fulfilling as actual interacting with others, they serve a definite purpose when it comes to helping us meet our basic need to connect. To that, I say, "Long live the selfie!" May it be with us for at least another 600 years.  .   

Higher Calling

What distinguishes great communicators from every other communicator? What do they do or have that their peers or colleagues do not do or have? While I believe this to be a legitimate question, it is not necessarily an easy one to answer. After all, just as we all have our own sense of what is "pretty," for example, what makes the actions of one professional "great" is equally subjective. For starters, greatness is not necessarily found in the results of one's actions even though results can be "great." Results are only part of the mix. In addition to that, there is another element that drives efforts geared to generate positive results.


Great communicators are driven by a higher purpose. Their deepest commitment is to communication itself. Their "bottom line" goal is helping ensure that the act of communicating is successful. While generating more customers for a client is no doubt important, overriding that is the grand goal of bring multiple publics together and then helping ensure their connection remains viable even when they no longer see eye-to-eye. Disagreement between individuals and publics is inevitable. Maintaining a sense of harmony is not. This is where great communicators come in. They recognize it is the relationship itself that is the ultimate key, not necessarily any given issue or "flavor of the month."


As a species, how successful we are in dealing with the various issues that have the potential to divide and even destroy us, including pollution, climate change, water shortages, and war, will be determined by the lasting strength of our connection and how well each of us works toward the greater good of society. Great communicators recognize this and devote their expertise toward this end even while helping clients achieve objectives that are not quite so lofty. This is what I refer to as a higher calling. Is this vision of great communicators far-fetched? A pipe dream? Unrealistic? Maybe. But hopefully more and more great communicators will emerge. They are needed,

Elevating Public Debate

Those who spend much of their professional time in the public arena bounce from one crossroad to another. Throughout their days they are called upon to constantly make choices as to how to conduct themselves. This is not easy. Regardless of the issue, whatever they do or decide is going to disappoint, anger or frustrate some. Such is the life of our elected officials. As I write this, there are a little over two weeks to go to the 2014 mid-elections when many of them - congressman and governors throughout the country - are up for re-election. Soon they will learn whether they will be able to continue their fishbowl existence for another two, four or six years.


Going into these elections, it is no secret that, generally speaking, the American public has a very low opinion of those currently in public office. One reason for this is that fundamental choice these officials make in how they discuss, debate and/or converse about issues of the day. Specifically, people largely disapprove  of the manner in which the officials communicate with them and each other. So often it is low-brow, silly and thoughtless. To make matters worse,  the communicators on their staffs - those who speak with reporters on their behalf - are often  just as bad. Far too often, like those for whom they work, the spokespersons do nothing to elevate serious debate.


Case in point: the recent gubernatorial debate in Florida. One of the candidates wanted a small fun underneath his podium to keep him comfortable,. His opponent objected. While the issue was finally settled and debate was held as scheduled, it was not before spokespeople from each camp got in their zingers. "(Charlie) Crist was in an 'emergency meeting' with debate organizers pleading for his precious fan," said one. The other side shot back regarding Rick Scott: "I have a ten-year-old, and it' been many years since he has thrown a fit equal to this one."  How disappointing. The two candidates deserve better representation. Even more than that, the general public does.

The Vision of Friedrich August Von Hayek

History is filled with examples of man's folly. Sadly, that will no doubt continue being the case right up to the moment when mankind goes the way of the dodo bird. We presume, to site one example, to be able to protect ourselves from the elements yet are then hit by natural disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and suddenly the emptiness of our confidence is exposed. One would think these incidents, big and small, would be convincing enough to keep our hubris in-check, so we stop making promises we cannot keep; so that we accept the realty that which we can control is very limited. Sadly, sometimes tragically, they are not.


In 1974, the Austrian economist Friedrich August Von Hayek was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science. His acceptance speech, which he gave in December of that year, is one of the most famous in the history of this most prestigious honor. Titled "The Pretense of Knowledge," Von Hayek points the finger at his fellow economists for thinking they, with their theories and predictions, have the ability to control the behavior of countries and their people in order to shape successful societies, thus ignoring the great complexities of that most complex of all phenomena: life. Life's realities should be enough to teach  "the students of society a lessen of humility which should guard him against becoming an accomplice in men's fatal striving to control society...."


Von Hayek's observations are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago. They are particularly applicable to the field of communication as it stands today. Long before and certainly since the honoring of Von Hayek, scholars and practitioners  of communication have put forth theories and models that explain the workings of communication and how they result in people behaving in particular ways. These contributions have been many and often enlightening and insightful. But the fact is despite them, not all public relations efforts succeed. Misunderstandings continue to occur. People keep getting their signals crossed. Professional and even non-professional communicators  need to remember this hard-truth. Communication is an action one takes but does not or cannot control.

The Gaia Theory

Approximately a half century ago, scientist, environmentalist and futurist James Lovelock put forth a hypothesis stating, in essence, that the Earth and all the living entities on it, are really one single organism. Everything, the now 95-year-old Lovelock said, is interconnected. He called this perspective the Gaia Theory. To this day, not all of his contemporaries agree with it, but many do. Is vegetation in, say, the Southwestern part of the United States have an impact on wildlife in the plains of Africa? Do melting icebergs in the Arctic affect the ability of children in New Orleans to go to school? One, as Lovelock has done, can make a good case that there is a fundamental truth to this postulate.


A similar reality applies to our world of communication. It is not difficult to imagine, for instance, how well a teacher in an inner city school explains the fundamentals of math can touch the lives of children living on the other side of the world, particularly when reality suggests that many of the children that instructor teaches will impart their knowledge of math - little or a lot - onto others who will, on some level, communicate it others who will be eventually connected to the children living thousands of miles away. Does this seem to be a bit of a stretch? Yes. At the same time, it does not seem far-fetched.


All of us communicate non-stop. We put forth opinions, share information as we know it, etc. That this message-sending touches others there is no doubt. This information, whether it is factual or not, is passed along by us in the form of conversations, broadcasts, emails, tweets, books, sermons, etc. In the Gaia Theory, Lovelock argued the world is a self-regulating entity with a capacity to keep the planet healthy by controlling the interconnectedness of the chemical and physical environment. As this applies to communication, however, our ability to self-regulate to ensure more harmonious living seems questionable.  

Fact Sheets

When the profession of public relations began to take flight in the first third of the twentieth century, one of the primary "weapons" in the arsenal of these professional communicators was the press release. It is this communication tool that many practitioners used to promote their clients and organizations. Specifically, they would these communiques to local and regional newspapers with the intent of having those media outlets run part or all of them. Gaining publicity via the press release then and for many years afterward proved to be a successful public relations strategy. They were vehicles of communication that could satisfy clients while helping meet the needs of the press to fill up their pages with an array of news and announcements.


As the twentieth century progressed so, too, did efforts by public relations practitioners to identify more sure-fire ways to promote their clients. At the same time, the media, while maintaining its independence, faced growing challenges ranging from drops in circulation and/or viewership to the rising cost of production. Revenue via advertising help them maintain their separation or independence. Also, keeping the staff of their staffs at lean numbers helped and continue to help maintain a reasonable level of financial stability. Through all this evolution in both public relations and journalism, the status of the press release began changing as well.


Reporters and editors continued their interest in those communiques, but instead began using them more as news tips rather complete articles to publish or broadcast. Information or facts within the releases rather than the prose of the stories themselves emerged as the key points of interest for journalists. As a result of this shift, fact sheets - that communique that emphasizes facts or data rather than full-fledged articles - in essence stepped center stage as a main communication tool for publicists. Thus, more than ever it is the fact sheet that represents the go-to publicity tool for those in public relations.

The Danger of Opinion

It has been written many times that people have more in common than not. One characteristic in particular we all share is that we have opinions. In fact, they are probably one thing in which we rarely are in short supply. I, myself, have a ton of opinions on most every topic one can name. Of those, of course, are few that might even have some semblance of logic. But, then, that is just my opinion. That people do have perspectives on the many aspects of life is not a bad thing. It shows thought and a desire to comes to grips with issues and events that can be quite puzzling and unexpected.


At the same time, all of us need to be careful with opinions, particularly those with which we hold most strongly. They can get in the way of what is real. Along those lines, German filmmaker Wim Wenders once said, "The more opinions you have, the less you see." It is true that people, again myself included at times, tend to be blind to the difference between opinion and fact. Opinions can become mistaken for reality or the unvarnished truth. In other words, instead of looking at something and seeing what is there, people can and do have a tendency to see what they want to see. Such a trend tends to make opinions a kind of deceptive element of our thinking.


Another person of Germany heritage, philosopher G. C. Lichtenberg, observed, "We accumulate our opinions at any age when our understanding is at its weakest." Contrary to what many may believe, opinions do not represent the final step in one's intellectual assessment of a topic or issue. Rather, they are often what should be the first or hypothesis of a mental journey required to help gain a well-informed, educated assessment of something. Thus, whether it is two friends gathered to swap opinions on the news of the day, several talking heads on television, or an elected official standing at a podium, we and they must be careful not to automatically assume the views expressed represent what is true.  

On Writing

The funny thing about writing is there is not much about it that is funny. It is time consuming, labor intensive, contrary and uncooperative. It moves at its own pace and is impervious to compromise, promises or even bribes. To top that off, it is insensitive to the one who makes writing what it is - the writer. Regardless of how much time and effort a writer may devote to it, writing shows no loyalty to that one who has taken pen in hand. Instead, the focus of writing is on the ones who validate its existence - readers. Once the writer has done their part, then writing moves on and does not look back.


This is in no way to disparage writing. As the same time, its indifference to the ones who make it possible does seem rather harsh. After all, in mankind's never-ending effort to be gain notice, writing was created as a way of to share information, confirm existence and exchange thought. Writing became one way - an important way - to  do that. There are theories as to about when this started and by what culture, but no one knows for sure. The fact is writing as a vital form of communication in the form of drawings, scratches and eventually letters was introduced and almost immediately became a fixture in the lives of all humans everywhere.


Yes, writing owes a major debt to writers. But the truth is writers owe it a debt of comparable size as well. Without writing, the history of mankind would be incomplete. Further, its present and future ponderings would be, at best, equally shallow. Writing as served mankind well. No doubt, this is why writing remains ever-present as a way for men and women to continue connecting. While one might be tempted to argue that writing is not as strong now as it used to be, the case that it not needed as much can and will never be made. Mankind needs it as much as it needs mankind. Writing is an indispensable communication tool.