Soon after he became prime minister, Winston Churchill wrote to the First Lord of the Admiralty to ask, “Pray Sir, tell me on one side of one sheet of paper, how the Royal Navy is preparing for the war.” Churchill knew that if he did not qualify his request he would have received an unreadable 400-page report. Brevity is a great virtue, and nowhere more needed than in India. Our judges write judgements that are too long; our lawyers ramble on; our executives try to impress with lengthy memos; our politicians--well, try to get in a word. Our public affairs would improve tangibly if our power to be silent were equal to our power to speak. That less can be more is especially true in good writing. I discovered this at Procter and Gamble, a company as famous for its legendary one page memo as for its products. Its wondrous one page memo was created out of the same confidence in reason and technology that built America, and is as elegant as Panini's grammar or Euclid's geometry. Based on the reasonable assumption that all managers suffer from an overload of paperwork and files, it is simple, factual, and logical. The reader can scan it in minutes and grasp its contents. It has just enough data that a manager needs to make decision and no more. It is clear, precise, eschews hyperbole, and it actually improves the speed and quality of decisions, and hence it can be a source of competitive advantage. The one page memo consists of five short paragraphs, and its first sentence tells the reader what to expect--why should you be interested in what I have to say? Hence, the smart writer puts his best foot forward and states upfront the conclusion or recommendation. There is an inherent conflict between the reader and the writer's interest--the writer wants to build a case slowly, leading to a conclusion, but the busy reader wants the conclusion quickly, and is only interested in the rationale later. Since this is not a detective story, a good first paragraph ought to focus on the “what” and not the “how”; but it must also, of course, offer one or two compelling reasons to believe in the conclusion. The second paragraph offers background--it is historical, factual, filled with data, and tells the reader why the problem or opportunity has arisen. The third para is the detailed recommendation--the “what” and the “how”, but don't confuse the reader here with the “why”. The rationale should come in the next paragraph--“here are three reasons why you should accept my recommendation”--and typically one cites precedents, benefits (financial and otherwise) and risks. The fifth paragraph tells the reader that the author has looked at alternative courses of action, and why this is the best. Finally, the last paragraph addresses the next steps and lays out a plan of actions that will flow from the decision. The Maharashtra Administrative Reforms Commission is so impressed with this one page memo that it is recommending it to the government in order to make its bureaucrats more efficient. We Indians are verbose, and need to be reminded that human beings were born with two ears and two eyes, but with only one tongue, so that we should see and hear twice as much as we say. Shakespeare too, I think, must have had us Indians in mind when he wrote in Richard III: “Talkers are no good doers”. Hence, he offers us this advice in Henry V: “Men of a few words are the best of men.”
Jun 17th 2002