INDECLINE, an anarchist collective, erected fat, naked statues of Donald Trump with shriveled genitalia in five American cities yesterday. What a hoot! If you had a good laugh with this, I’m here to ruin your fun. Think along with me here for a second. Why is it reprehensible for Trump to make fun of a disabled reporter,…
If you’re an executive or senior manager, why trouble your people about clear writing? Does it really make a difference to how your organization runs? Dramatically. It will change the tenor of how you work. Frankly, “Writing Without Bullshit” is a departure for me. After 20 years as an analyst, I’m used to giving strategy advice to…
When I work with clients, we sometimes trade contracts written in legalese. Both sides have a pretty good idea what we want. So why not just say it? Just for reference, here’s what I do: I help authors with book ideas. I help authors write book proposals. I run clear writing workshops for companies. I…
Blab, a livestreaming startup with 3.9 million users, just shut down abruptly. Founder Shaan Puri’s message to the world is crystal clear. Unfortunately, he also treats his users like any other resource — they were useful for a while, but now he’s discarding them like an obsolete iPhone. Blab had a good run. In addition to its…
I have blogged 500 to 1000 words, every weekday, since March 26, 2015. That spans 387 posts, nearly all of which covered issues of substance. Today, I explain why I do this, how it helps, and what it takes. I did not set out to blog every day. My first post appeared on a Thursday….
Macy’s announced it will close 100 stores yesterday, but you have to dig deep into the press release to find out. Here’s a news flash: doubletalk in corporate releases fools no one. Bad news smells no better when you swaddle it corporate blather. The bullshit begins with the title: Macy’s, Inc. Outlines Moves to Drive Profitable…
David Robinson, data scientist at Stack Overflow, published an insightful analysis of Donald Trump’s tweets. It provides a fascinating window into Trump’s mind as he squeezes his thoughts down into 140 angry characters. And it begins to reveal what Trump would do all day long if elected president. Robinson’s analysis: Trump’s tweets are even more hateful…
Do you think that the news media favor sensation over substance? The evidence shows the opposite. So why does it seem that way? Because sensation is what we, as readers, want, and social algorithms give us what we ask for. The two most newsworthy things that Donald Trump did in the last two days were these: He…
Yesterday, 50 former national security officials who had served in Republican administrations published a letter criticizing Donald Trump. This document is bullshit-free: it’s written in the first person with active voice, direct, declarative sentences and a limited number of qualifiers. For a political document, this is remarkable. An effective document is short, features a descriptive title, and explains its…