You know the movie.  Those fabled lines set up Jack Nicholson for a monologue that is his undoing but that resound so deeply in our culture that we are forced to admit that we want to him to be right – even if he’s wrong.

You see, the truth is: he’s right.  I can’t handle the truth.

In a recent, let’s call it “discussion,” with a dear friend I was confronted from fairly, let’s call them “cutting” remarks.

Of course, they cut because, at least, in part, they are true.

I wish I could re-enact my personal version of A Few Good Men for you today.   I want to take you to the courtroom and I want you to side with me.  I want you to see there was a lot of stuff not addressed in those remarks that cut me. Deep.  What about HIS problems?  What about the screens HE looks through that color all of HIS observations?What about the good things I’ve done?

The problem is.  That’s just me hiding the truth.  The truth is in some ways he is right.  What he said has some TRUTH in it.

Of course, that brings up a much bigger question – posed by a much more famous actor in a much more important story. Pontius Pilate.  He was the guy who, in the end, gave Jesus to the Jews to be crucified, but not before asking (himself, his wife, Jesus?) this little zinger:  “What is truth?”  (Quid est veritas?)

Jesus had just told him that anyone who was for truth was for Him (Jesus.)

Whoa!  FOR truth? Like I’m FOR my wife or I’m FOR, idonno, some football team or something?  Like it’s its own unit?  It’s own thing that exists irrespective of our opinion of it that we have to side with or not?

I’m afraid so.

And while it may be my friend was having a bad day (or not) or that he has some issues to work through, too (or doesn’t) the absolute fact is that as a result of his remarks this unit, this thing, called truth is knocking at the door of my heart.  (Or is it slowly slicing into the meaty part of it? Cutting?)  In any case, it’s there and it can’t be ignored.  No matter where it came from.

What is truth?  The truth is that I am a work in progress and that regardless of my (hopefully, more often than not good) intentions I can hurt people – badly. (I can and I have…)

It’s probably best I can’t answer Pilate’s question – I doubt I could handle it.

-sb

A Few Good Men Clip

A Few Good Creative Men Clip (Parody of the original – very funny!)

PS.

It drives me nuts that Tom Cruise is always the somewhat-smarter-than-everyone-else guy in movies.  Come on People… How on EARTH did he end up being the Last Samurai?? Why does he get to win over Jack Nicholson? (A superior, or at least, less annoying actor IMHO.)  I’m so grateful for Southpark putting him in his place.  A closet.

You Can't Handle the Truth!

First, always write “hot” and edit “cold.”  Truly, there is absolutely no point in editing your work right after you just finished writing it. End of story. Ideally you should leave a week or two in-between when you write your piece and when you edit it.  Of course, you may not have that kind of time; in which case, you should give yourself as long as you can with as much “not writing’ in-between so your mind can refresh and refocus. If your communication piece cannot wait you should consider outsourcing the editing to a professional.  See my post on the two essential components of every piece of communication to learn why.

Second, you need a reference book on all of the little rules of punctuation and spelling.  NOBODY remembers all of the little rules.  I personally recommend you purchase The Elements of Style originally by Oliver Strunk and revised by William Strunk and E.B.White. It is an outstanding reference guide.  It has been referenced by many big name writers and now I lend my credence to it as well

Third, If you are editing for technical issues such as punctuation, spelling, and the like try starting with the last sentence and then the second last etc.  This will force your mind to really look at each sentence as a unique entity.  When you read your own piece from start to finish you’ll get caught up in the flow of it and then miss small errors.

Fourth, you should not just edit your piece with the eye to find technical errors but also read to see how it flows from thought to thought and from paragraph to paragraph.  Try reading your piece out loud.  Does it go from broad to very specific?  Does each sentence provoke you to read the next sentence?

First, you must know WHY you are writing.  What’s the point? When people are done reading your work, what should they walk away with? You should be able to write out the main idea you want to communicate on the back of a business card… (That means one or two sentences MAX.) if you can’t, you probably need to think it through some more. (This type of clarity will save you many hours of frustration –I GUARANTEE IT.)

Second, once you know your main idea, you must realize that no one else knows your main point.  It is your job to tell them, not their job to guess. It is your job to make your main point as easy to understand as possible. Walk your audience through the necessary details to arrive at the main point.

Do not expect your audience to patiently study your piece of writing. Do not ask them to wallow through ambiguous thoughts that are thicker than quicksand to arrive at your conclusion.

Third, Make it your goal to gain as much knowledge and wisdom as you can on the topic of writing. You can always improve on this critical skill.  It’s worth your time. The pen is, after all, mightier than the sword.

Lost in an idea...

The medium is the carrier of the message. Just as medicine can be administered by pill, capsule, I.V., or needle the medium can take many forms such as songs, blogs, web pages and lectures.

The message is the idea that is to be communicated.  It is the thing that we wish to put inside of our audience where it can ripple and resonate and create new ideas and new actions.

Very important messages  -the ones that pertain to life and death- often need to be delivered with the acute clarity and precision of a needle.  There are no niceties – just the brutal truth that often leaves a sting.

Non emergency messages can take any number of forms -from chewable pills to healthy diets.  Their effect is not as immediate or potent, but we would not want it any other way.

In the 60′s the famous Canadian philosopher, Marshal McLuhan, made the bold assertion that the medium IS the message.

In effect, this meant that people no longer cared about what you were saying so much as how you were saying it.  If the message appeared to be in a syringe it must be bad.  If the message was easy to swallow – it must be good.

Discriminating minds can still see the difference between medium and message HOWEVER many people cannot.  If it doesn’t look good, they want nothing to do with it.

This is why it is essential that all communication be presented with the best medium available.  There is no room for error or our message will not be taken in by our audience and there will be no new ideas or action.

No one likes needles... No one!