I was reading a blog article the other day, and I really wish I could remember which one it was or locate it again, on the subject of subjects. Basically it boiled down to this - most people decide based on the subject alone whether to open your email and read it. So why do you spend 99% of your time and effort constructing a well formed message only to slap a nondescript subject on it. Or worse yet, people send out emails with no subject at all!
Well, I more than totally agree, but the blog also got me thinking about other areas of our lives. Very often I see managers or executives at work spend hours working out what they want to say to their employees only to blow it by the way in which the call the meeting or maybe even the time.
If you tell someone on Friday afternoon that you want to meet with them first thing Monday morning, what is going to happen? With nothing else to go on, since you didn’t tell them the goal of the meeting, you have left them with no alternative than to anticipate the worst and dwell on it all weekend. After that, they will walk into that Monday morning meeting defensive, upset, and with a load of baggage that you did not anticipate when planning the meeting nor are you really prepared to deal with.
Same thing happens when you send that email or voice mail that just says, “come see me.” I can tell you that when I get those there is no way that I think anything good is coming of it. Scenerios start running through the brain, defenses go up, escape routes and excuses start to be formed - and all about a myriad of things that have absolutely nothing to do with why the summons was issued. What is so hard about saying, “can you come see me about starting a new training program” instead of the blunt, controlling, uninformative “come see me?” A slim few more words and one more second of speaking time but ultimately more productive and less alarming.
This goes not only at work but at home and in social settings. When a kid is out playing and needs to come in, there is a big difference between just yelling their name and yelling there name with the message after it. Yell, “Tommy!” and you will either be greeted by silence as Tommy avoids you or “What? What did I do?” as the defenses go up. Yell, “Tommy, supper time!” and most often you will see a smiling face running towards you.
So remember, many times the message is all in the subject line.
I am just wondering what you want for Christmas? Not necessarily some big item like a television or a diamond ring, but what is it that if you could have anything and weren’t afraid to be laughed at that you would ask for? Remember when you were a kid and you would freely state that you wanted a pony, or a train, or a spaceship? And remember how, every once in a while, you got what you asked for even if it wasn’t it the exact detail of your request?
Maybe you asked for a spaceship and you got a LEGO set to build one. Or maybe you ask for a pony and got a play set with a pony and other little animals. Or who knows, maybe you actually got a pony? Yes, there are those times when you actually get exactly what you ask for. So, be careful that what you ask for is really what you want!
As for me, what I really want is a trip to England. I would love to go back for a week or even a few days. Problem is that right now there is no way I can afford the ticket and the hotel. I keep trying to find a way, but nothing has reared its head yet.
But that is me, and the question here is about you. So, what do you want? Really, what do you want?
If such is the way of your country, I hope that you and yours have a great Thanksgiving. I am spending the day with family, actually probably the weekend, so am just stealing a few minutes away for a quick post. Oh, and by the way, I actually saw some wild turkeys this morning! I was driving down a remote road heading to the store to get a paper when I saw all these birds off the side of the road. At first I thought they were buzzards, but on second look they turned out to be wild turkey! How many people can say they saw actually wild turkeys on Thanksgiving day?!
First, I am wondering how many of you are going shopping tomorrow in the infamous “Black Friday” shopping frenzy? I probably actually will be, but more to people watch and get out of the house than to shop. I may or may not end up buying anything as it will just depend on what I happen across and what strikes my fancy.
Also, if you are an automotive person so inclined, please stop by my British car site at http://www.JustBritish.com. I am currently working on some revisions to the home page and general site look and feel. What you see there now is the old stuff. Hopefully the version will go live before the weekend is out.
And finally a word about politics. Does it seem that the rhetoric is starting to get nasty and become exactly what all the candidates said it wouldn’t be? Doesn’t it seem that the extremely polarizing positioning is starting and accelerating? Is there any hope at all?
This is a very cool site where you can improve your vocabulary at the same time you help with world hunger by earning rice for the poor. I can’t say it any better, so I will just quote the FreeRice site:
About FreeRice
FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com.
FreeRice has two goals:
Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.
This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.
Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your vocabulary can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.
Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.
You know those surveys you do in groups to get to know each other? The ones where they ask you to put down something most people don’t know about you? Well, sometimes I write down this - that I am a model train nut. I especially love British railway models. Yes, it may be a bit odd the days, but I love trains.
Since I don’t have the space these days to have a layout, I just have various models displayed on shelves in the bedroom. The worse part is having to dust them. So, imagine my surprise and excitement when I found some very cool model train videos on YouTube. People will make videos of just about anything, and I am very glad of it. If you are so inclined, check out the one below and then go to YouTube and do a search on “model trains” or “model railroads.” Lots of very, very interesting clips.
