Only it’s not a truck that backs up every hour, it’s my computer’s hard drives. That’s right. Not just one drive: drives, as in plural. I work fast and backup is essential. It should be for you too. Why cause yourself useless anxiety when you can easily automate all of your backups! I’ve written about this before, these backups and copies are all scheduled so I don’t even have to think about it, and so I can concentrate on my work! Here’s my schedule, your mileage may vary:

Every 15 Minutes

1) Sync and backup shared work files: We use Egnyte, one of many cloud-based online storage and collaboration solutions. Not only do we use it to share files between co-workers, but to archive each saved version as we’re collaborating. It’s wonderful. It works by syncing the most recent version of each cloud file with my computer, while the archived backups are on the cloud and not on my computer taking up valuable space.

Other popular cloud storage programs are Google Drive or Dropbox, and both have free options for a limited amount of storage. They sync between your computer and the cloud. You can also adjust your preferences and settings depending on which computer you’re accessing your files from.

Every Hour

1) Sync and backup all my files and applications: I use Time Machine. If you have a Mac, schedule this right away. If there’s a problem, you can pretend you’re Doctor Who and time travel to a date when your file or computer was in the state you need it to be in. (Sadly, this only works for files and computers, not real life.) You may use this to back up everything—both your files and your applications.

By the way, you can back up to your own computer, but that’s kind of silly. If your computer is dead, then . . . backing up to a separate and/or external drive is a more foolproof way to ensure your files are safe.

2) Clone my entire computer: This is just what it sounds like: a complete copy of my entire computer including files, applications, settings, everything. This is a workable copy of your computer. In real life, that means no downtime.

I schedule the cloning software (we like Carbon Copy Cloner) to run hourly. Again, to a separate hard drive, but not the same one I use for my hourly Time Machine backups. For cloning, you’ll need a large drive with lots of space, not a cloud drive. This not only creates a complete workable copy, but is also useful for archiving previously cloned workable copies—think Time Machine Plus.

One important reason for cloning your computer is so that once every year you can completely “zero out” your computer and start fresh, without losing your files or settings. You can work off the clone while you are defragmenting your hard drive. Defragmenting helps prolong the life of your hard drive—our resident expert says it may even double the life of your drive. Meanwhile, you have all of your files and applications ready to reinstall when the defragmenting is complete.

I’ve written about this before, so why am I bringing it up again now? Because of this video from the Pixar team about a computer horror story that occurred during the making of Toy Story 2. One bad command, and the movie started to vanish! The moral of the story: you can never have too many backups.

Urgency

Urgency is the first screen through which to analyze your communications. The greater the urgency, the greater the consequence of success or failure. Your goal is to have others embrace your urgency, and recruit them to take action. I believe that all communications exist on a spectrum of urgency, and fall somewhere between little and great. These urgencies may be driven by your organizational strategy, say, tied to a marketing campaign for a new product or service; to an external event, such as response to publicity; and, of course, all activities of  your  business units.

Understanding urgency and the related consequence, and communicating this urgency to everyone involved, is the first leg of effective business communications.

Ownership

Ownership, or more specifically, ownership of outcomes, are the results you hope to achieve through a successful communication. An organization whereby people “own the outcome” is one where the responsibility to communicate is maintained until the outcome is reached. Rarely is it good enough to assume that once you’ve initiated a communication, the outcome is assured. When you own the outcome, you accept the responsibility for completion. You will know answers to questions such as: Was the communication received? Was it understood? Is there further action necessary to take place? Who will make it happen, and in what time frame? Typically, the degree and importance of ownership increases with the level of urgency.

A culture that includes the “ownership of outcomes” is likely to avoid the cost in money, time, and reputation that occur from failed communication.

Audience

Communication is effective when based on a thorough understanding of your audience. Active listening skills are valuable to know what your audience wants, and how to reach them. A good listener will also ascertain if your intended audience has received, understood, and acted upon your communication; and what is necessary to communicate next.

When communications are targeted to your audience, you will maximize the opportunity for action—action being the operative word in effective business communication.

There are two truisms that contribute to effective business communication. Apply them and you can transform your emails from ambiguity into action.

You Asked For It

1. If you want something, ask for it.

2. Make your request specific.

After all, the aphorism, “be careful what you wish for,” applies to the non-specific request that can lead to confusion, inattention, and inaction.

For example, compare the following examples of both a vague and and an action-specific request.

Vague: Can you send the proposal?

Action-Specific: I would like the proposal by Monday morning, can you send it to arrive by FedEx at 10:30 a.m. and send me the tracking number today?

Similarly, one will engage in more succinct communications by replying with the same degree of specificity. Answers such as, “soon,” “hopefully,” and “probably,” are not answers at all. They only contribute to an ambiguous and time-consuming conversation.

When writing an email, pay attention to the following to keep your communications clear, concise, effective, and loaded with specificity.

You want to fast? OK. The secrets. For free.

Not really? You just want to learn to improve your own writing?

Both? Really?

OK.

The seven secrets to simultaneously lose weight and improve your writing:

That’s it.

Make new habits. The length of time required is roughly equal to the length of time it’s taken you to get where you are today.

Old habits. Die. Hard.

Like old clichés.

Hard? Yes, you are in a struggle with yourself.

Your sense of entitlement for comfort is in a battle with desire, discipline, your ego, and the pain that comes with practice.

There is a reward. You’ll know it when you get it.

—William Blake, English visionary, mystic, poet, painter, and engraver (1757-1827)

This is the first in a series on the subject of editing, and why you, as an organization or an individual, need an editor. We will explore what editors do, what they don’t do, how to work with an editor, types of editing, and how editing saves time, money, and adds business value.

[Let’s try that again:]

Typos. Grammar. Logical construction. Fact-checking. Readability. All sorts of consistency. Journalistic style. Corporate style and corporate branding. Messaging. An editor will do that and more. An editor will help you (“you” means you, and “you”also means your organization) communicate with clarity, persuasion, and impact.

No Editor? Try The Top-Drawer Technique

1. Write it
2. Read it
3. Rewrite it
4. Print it out
5. Place in your top drawer
6. Let it sit for a week
7. Remove it from the top drawer
8. Reread it
9. Say to self, “Egads, it’s a good thing I didn’t send this last week!”
10. Rewrite

An editor can help you examine your writing through your reader’s eyes, and see things you no longer see. That’s why, without an editor, the top-drawer technique forces you to look at your work anew. But, it’s not the same as having an editor. An editor will expand your vision and see through the clichés that may trivialize our writing. A good editor will ask if you’ve tested your assumptions before you present them as given wisdom.

What Does an Editor See?

Editors do not like guessing games. If your editor doesn’t know, trust that your readers won’t either. This is instructive. After being asked, “What does this mean?” enough times, you, as a writer, will begin to anticipate questions of clarity as you work.

Introducing Dany

I have the mixed fortune of working with Dany. Dany is kind and Dany is patient. Dany, on a daily basis, will point out the facts I’ve missed. She will make sure all of my hyperlinks work, change my single quotation marks to doubles, remove the extra space after my periods, and investigate the details of whatever I’ve written. Dany is an editor extraordinaire.  She will coauthor this series on the work and value of an editor.

The reason I wrote ”mixed fortune” is that Dany’s vigilance means I may take her for granted. Pry up Dany’s pillow at night, and there lies her copy of The Chicago Manual of Style. Below it, the AP Style Guide. Capitalize this. Lowercase that. Don’t use an acronym. Use an acronym. Dany is the reason your publications are consistent and correct. Without an editor like Dany, you’ll have an aggregation of errors and confusion of consistency that can only reflect poorly on your organization.

Writing as Microbranding

Think of editing for style as microbranding. A recent study determined that three- to five-year-old children, though not yet able to read, could readily pair logos with brands. Certain logos—including those for fast-food chains, entertainment companies, and cars—proved especially recognizable.

Well, let’s say you are McDonalds.

Your logo is known around the world. Change the font, change the colors, change the style of the golden arches, and you will confuse your audience. They will know something is out of place. And, maybe, just maybe, your customers will wonder if you are as nonchalant with your hamburgers and fries as you are with the way you promote them.

The same thing goes for the way you write. A house style defines a consistent use of words, and that consistency enforces the messaging that builds your brand. It’s either one million or 1,000,000. The same way each time. It’s McDonald’s or it’s MCDONALD’S. Heck, you can use #$%^ as long as you’re consistent. The same way each time. Get it? Consistency builds trust.

By paying attention to the house style, editors help to keep all writers for your company on the same page, over time.

In our next installment: What exactly is “house style”?

This summer I decided to do something I’d always wanted to do: learn to play guitar. Luckily for me, my husband, a professional music teacher, was on hand when I had questions.

And the musical question is: “What in the world does this have to do with business?”

In a word, PERSEVERENCE. The same principles that apply to learning a new skill also apply to the world of business.

Start Off Small, Start Off Slowly
If you have fingers of steel, you might be able to learn to play the guitar in a day. I could take this analogy further and say you can’t learn to play most instruments in one day, but the extra fun bit about guitars is that the strings are made of steel. You play a chord by contorting your fingers into unfamiliar positions around the neck of the guitar, and then press them very hard against these steel strings. If you’re wishy-washy about it, your music sounds like mush, or as my son likes to innocently comment as he walks by, “Gee, Mom, that’s plunky.” So, when I started I chose the easiest chords I could handle, but still could only practice for 10 minutes at a time because my fingertips were swelling.

Lesson# 1: It’s the same for learning anything new—you can’t possibly absorb all there is to know about web design, coding, giving a business presentation, or being in a leadership position, right away. Give yourself time to absorb new skills in whatever sized chunks work for you.

Keep At It
I didn’t just practice for 10 minutes a day. I practiced until I couldn’t stand it, as many times as I could tolerate it each day. I read up on techniques to build up calluses, and would press edges of a card into my fingertips while I was doing something else (watching a movie, for example) to build calluses even when I wasn’t playing. I wanted results. In my case, it was being able to hold down a solid G chord.

I also asked for help when I needed it from others who played, like my husband, since I wasn’t taking lessons but was teaching myself.  And, I practiced every day. (Still do.)

Lesson # 2: It sounds trite, but you will only improve with practice. And don’t just put in the time—go beyond what’s required. Read, ask questions from others who know more than you, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Commit to it. Don’t do things halfway.

Know Your Audience and Keep Your Options Open
My brother-in-law has a band and works as a recording engineer. He asked me to bring my guitar for Thanksgiving so that we could play together. This would be my first public appearance! But it was clear as I pulled out the book I’d been practicing from that they were mostly obscure songs. He showed me loads of other songs with the same basic chords I already knew, that OTHER people would know as well and could actually join in on.

Lesson # 3: Don’t specialize to such a degree that you back yourself into a corner. Keep your options open so that you can do more than only one thing. That makes you sought-after.

Build Your Repertoire and Take it to the Next Level
I was pretty amazed a few weeks ago when I went into my old book of songs (yes, the ones that nobody knew) to find that the ones I thought were hopelessly difficult at the beginning were now easy to play. As my hands grew stronger, I could play chords that were previously out of my reach (literally out of my reach).  I have even begun to work on bar chords, something that would have been laughable six months ago. Nowadays I find myself saving songs on my iPad so that I don’t really use the notebook much anymore. I use recording technology to slow down the songs to hear the strumming pattern. I look up instructional videos online, and sometimes just pause to look at someone’s hand position. I put on recordings of songs and play along to practice keeping up my tempo.  What I don’t do is keep playing the same things over and over again.

Lesson # 4: Keep your work fresh by embracing new technology and ideas. Don’t be afraid to try a new technique or way of working just because you’re used to being safe.
(See No knead for great bread and innovation by my colleague Frank Mendelson.)

Use Your Powers for Good
So you may not be an expert—yet. But you may be able to do a world of good for someone who can appreciate what you do know. In my case, I play guitar for my family, my religious education class, and plan on taking it along to some Girl Scout meetings. There’s a good chance this summer I may even be playing along with other musicians at church. The point is that there’s a bigger world out there beyond my living room.

Lesson # 5: Share what you know and see how you can help others NOW—don’t wait until some magical day when you deem your skills to be perfect. There are nonprofits, clubs, and schools who would love to have a hand making their websites, producing programs and posters for their plays, or helping edit, write, or format their newsletter.

When we think of how the application of guitar practice applies to business, this lesson is clear. Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, said, “You are what you practice most.”

That’s what may differentiate you from the competition.

Accident Report

Dateline: February 15, 2012, 8:10 a.m.
Location: Upstate New York

Upon return from my Valentine’s Day evening, the low-fuel warning light lit up on my dashboard. I needed to purchase some gasoline. I pulled into to a gas station to fill up. My tank is on the passenger side, so my car was facing left. A blue pickup truck at the other pump faced toward me. He’d have to back up, I thought, as I pulled in. I wondered if that would be a problem for him. As I pumped my gas, so did the driver of the pickup truck. Got the picture?

I watched as he filled his truck. He seemed distracted, unaware of his surroundings. His head was down. For a brief second, maybe more, I thought he might just jump in his truck, and plow right into me.

He finished pumping his gas, and climbed into his truck. All the while he was looking down. I don’t know if he was playing with his radio, looking at his cell phone, or something else. Again, the mini-panic that he still hadn’t noticed my car.

But he did. He looked up, and began to back out. Right then, a smaller pickup truck drove into the parking lot behind him. My guy must have stopped looking in his  rear view mirror. The smaller pickup began to honk as as the bigger blue truck slowly, and without hesitation, backed into it. That sickening sound filled the air, a sound that announces the day is not going so well.

As I left the scene, a few things occurred to me:

You are the captain of your ship.

Cars are heavy. Really heavy. Weight carries impact, so you better pay attention. It is only different by scale and degree in comparison to the actions of the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground near the island of Giglio. Know where you’re going and stay on course. Be ready if external circumstances dictate change.

Lesson: Have a communication strategy; know your audience, and the route by which you intend to reach them.

Exercise self-awareness.

It’s not that accidents necessarily happen fast or without warning. Oftentimes they can be foreseen. In fact, if the driver was a quarterback and I was the coach with one of those headsets calling plays, I would have yelled at him to STOP! Take an immediate time out. It was obvious he was not paying attention to his surroundings.

Lesson: Communications do not happen in a vacuum either. Be cognizant of competing interests that can become distractions when you deliver or respond to a message.

Be present.

We have an obligation to live in the moment. When you take the wheel, you are the driver. All those things at which you nodded at when you were a 16-year-old kid in Driver’s Ed—are true. Stop. Look. Listen. Check your mirrors, etc. They never said, “Stop. Look. Listen. Check your cell phone.” Your responsibility does not end when you press the Send button.

You, and you alone, are responsible to assure that your message was received, understood, and acted upon. You own it.

Lesson: To be an effective communicator you are responsible for a situation so that things go right, or be responsible for the consequences if they go horribly wrong.